Category Archives: Australia news

Landowners whose views are spoiled by power lines could receive $40,000 under Victorian plan

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Scheme would collect funds from power companies to pay communities affected by new transmission lines

Victorian landowners whose views are spoiled by new power transmission lines on neighbouring properties could receive one-off compensation payments of up to $40,000 under a plan being considered by the state government.

The new transmission planning agency, VicGrid, has opened consultation on a scheme that would collect funds from power companies to pay communities affected by new transmission lines.

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If home is your ‘castle’, how far can you go to defend it? In Queensland, it’s up for debate

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A Katter’s Australian party petition says homeowners should be allowed to use ‘whatever force necessary’ – but experts warn of dangers

“A Queenslander’s home is their castle” and they should be able to use “whatever force necessary” to protect themselves against intruders.

That’s according to a controversial petition from the Katter’s Australian party MP Nick Dametto to enact “castle law”, which has gained more than 36,000 signatures in support of importing the self-defence doctrine from the US that allows people to kill intruders threatening their homes..

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Non-citizen Andrew Giles wanted to be ‘rid of’ cannot be deported, court rules

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Exclusive: Safwat Abdel-Hady may now be able to pursue damages for false imprisonment after court found his detention was not authorised by Migration Act

A non-citizen convicted of offences related to alleged drink-spiking who Andrew Giles said he wanted to be “rid of” has had a major win in court, with the commonwealth conceding he cannot be deported.

On Tuesday the federal circuit court made declarations that “there was no real prospect of removal” of businessman Safwat Abdel-Hady currently or in the period 28 July 2022 to 13 February 2024 and his detention was not authorised by the Migration Act for those 18 months.

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‘Be prepared for many days of isolation’: emergency services urge NSW residents in flood-prone areas to evacuate

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Rain easing but SES says risk to communities remains as wet weather causes Warragamba Dam to spill for third month running

Some New South Wales residents told to flee rising flood waters have been given the all-clear to return as heavy rainfall, which caused a major dam to spill, eases and water levels recede.

Spills had slowed from Warragamba Dam late on Saturday but more than a dozen riverside communities had been warned the flooding emergency remained.

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‘We may not have snow’: Australian ski season opens with a whimper

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Mt Buller had the country’s only ski-on chairlift operating on season’s opening day on Saturday – but snow is forecast for the week ahead

It was a grassy start to Australia’s ski season, with one resort trying to remain upbeat “although we may not have snow on the ground” and a few pockets of human-made alternatives to play on elsewhere.

Mt Buller, in Victoria, was blessed with the only ski-on chairlift in the entire country on the opening day of the winter season on Saturday.

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Man accused of seeking $300,000 from woman he allegedly kidnapped and sexually assaulted in Sydney

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Man, 29, extradited from Victoria on Thursday after police alleged he threatened to release photos of assault

A man alleged to have drugged and kidnapped a woman before photographing himself sexually assaulting her and attempting to extort a $300,000 payment for the images has been extradited from Victoria to New South Wales.

Yanyu Mu, 29, was arrested at Oakleigh East in Melbourne’s south-east on Thursday, before being extradited to Sydney.

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Peter Dutton accused of trying to ‘rip up’ Australia’s commitment to Paris climate agreement

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Opposition leader reportedly told News Corp he would oppose the legislated 2030 emissions target – a 43% cut compared with 2005 levels – at the next election

Peter Dutton has been accused of planning to break Australia’s commitment to the landmark Paris climate agreement after he said he would reject the country’s 2030 greenhouse gas reduction target.

The opposition leader reportedly told the Weekend Australian that he would oppose the legislated 2030 emissions target – a 43% cut compared with 2005 levels – at the next election but remain committed to reaching net zero emissions by 2050.

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Deepfakes of Australian politicians including Penny Wong and Katy Gallagher used in investment scams

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Exclusive: AI-generated footage of former PM Scott Morrison also used in more than a dozen Facebook ads that reached thousands of Australians

Images of the finance minister, Katy Gallagher, and the foreign minister, Penny Wong, have been used in deepfake investment scam videos in the latest examples of a concerning trend of politicians being used in online fraud.

The Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie and the former prime minister Scott Morrison have also had their faces used in scams through Facebook videos that appear to be generated by AI, with more than a dozen examples this week of paid ads reaching thousands of Australians before being removed.

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Slushy start to ski season as NSW resort towns say booking numbers down

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Resort operators remain hopeful of larger falls later in the season and have introduced other activities not dependent on snowfall

The ski season is off to a mushy start as eager skiers hoping for the first glimpse of snow this weekend are instead met with grass and slush.

In New South Wales, Perisher and Thredbo, the most popular ski resorts in Australia, will only have a beginner’s conveyor belt running, and Selwyn snow resorts will not have any lifts operating.

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Channel Seven journalist Robert Ovadia on leave after allegations of ‘inappropriate behaviour’

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Sydney-based television veteran denies ‘malicious’ allegation and being stood down as network says it is conducting internal investigation

Channel Seven journalist Robert Ovadia is on leave while Seven conducts an internal investigation into allegations of “inappropriate behaviour” by the television veteran.

A spokesperson for the network confirmed Ovadia was on leave.

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Court condemns soccer fans’ Nazi salutes at 2022 Australia Cup final

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Three men were convicted and fined $500 for ‘deliberately and intentionally’ performing the salute

Three Croatian men have been convicted and fined after separately making Nazi salutes during the 2022 Australia Cup soccer final.

Nikola Marko Gasparovic, 46, Dominik Sieben, 25, and Marijan Lisica, 45, performed the salute at Parramatta’s CommBank Stadium on October 1 2022, during the match between Sydney United 58 and Macarthur FC.

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Shannon Fentiman referred to Queensland ethics committee over ‘cross your legs’ stoush – as it happened

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Max-Chandler Mather weighs in on Bandt’s potential legal action against attorney-general

Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather spoke to ABC News Breakfast earlier about the ongoing stoush between his party and Labor, with Adam Bandt threatening legal action against the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, over comments on pro-Palestine protests.

Asking me to comment on the specifics of a case like that – outrageous comments by the attorney general, completely baseless and without fact … this is an attempt to distract from the fact that the Labor government is complicit in a genocide being carried out by Israel in Gaza.

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‘I could have run faster’: Cathy Freeman expresses regret over gold medal race at Sydney Olympics

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Olympian says women’s 400 metres would have reached a whole new level if her main rival Marie-José Pérec had competed in the final

In an extraordinary confession, Olympic legend Cathy Freeman says she never completely fulfilled her potential as an athlete.

Reflecting on her remarkable career as the Paris games approach, Freeman said she could have run even faster in her career-defining 400-metres final at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

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Andrew Giles issues new rules for visa cancellations that make community safety ‘highest priority’

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Immigration minister announces direction 110 after previous rules used to overturn visa cancellations for non-citizens who committed serious offences

New rules on visa cancellation that emphasise the importance of community protection and impact on victims of crime will still allow decision-makers to favour factors other than safety as their paramount consideration.

On Friday the immigration minister, Andrew Giles, revealed he had made ministerial direction 110 “strengthening our cancellation system to better reflect community expectations” after a spate of cases of visa cancellations of non-citizens who had committed serious offences being overturned by an independent tribunal. The new rules will be in force from 21 June.

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IT expert wins long-running freedom of information court battle over robodebt documents

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Justin Warren first lodged request with the then Department of Human Services in January 2017

The federal court has ruled against a decision blocking access to early robodebt documents drafted under the former Coalition government, as part of one man’s long-running fight to shed light on the scheme’s origins.

Justices Geoffrey Kennett, Anna Katzmann and Shaun McElwaine ruled that a December 2022 decision made by the administrative appeals tribunal (AAT) to keep some robodebt documents exempt, including draft costings and new policy proposals, should be set aside due to procedural unfairness and because the AAT had incorrectly agreed with the cabinet confidentiality exemptions Services Australia applied.

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Robodebt was illegal but were its officials corrupt? This decision means now we won’t know

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The National Anti-Corruption Commission won’t investigate six individuals referred by the royal commission. It’s yet another blow for victims

An email landed in my inbox not long after the National Anti-Corruption Commission announced its refusal to investigate the robodebt scandal.

It was from Michael Griffin, a robodebt victim. Griffin, like countless others, descended into a spiral of shock and shame after he was wrongly told to repay a $3,197 welfare debt in late 2016.

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Border force apologises for failing to prevent ‘misconduct’ after reports found bullying and harassment

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Exclusive: Apology issued to staff includes pledge ‘to foster a safe, inclusive, empowered, accountable and supportive workplace’

The Australian Border Force has apologised to its staff for failing to “prevent workplace misconduct from occurring” after two damning reports found sexual discrimination and harassment rife in the ABF.

The ABF’s senior leadership issued the apology in May, after Australian Human Rights Commission reports into the culture of the marine unit and the broader ABF found bullying and harassment “are normalised” in some sections of the workforce.

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‘I felt your pain’: Wayne Swan criticises Labor’s ‘future gas’ strategy in address to party activists

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Exclusive: ALP president and former treasurer tells environment group he shared their disappointment over the contentious pre-budget announcement

The Labor party’s national president, Wayne Swan, has criticised the Albanese government’s future gas strategy, opposing its encouragement of new gas fields and telling the party’s environment activists they should push for a plan to lessen domestic demand.

In an online address to the Labor Environment Action Network (Lean) on Tuesday night, Swan sympathised with the activists who were dismayed that the strategy, released a week before the budget and which frustrated some inner-city Labor MPs, emphasised a role for gas “to 2050 and beyond”.

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More intense, frequent tropical cyclones may devastate seabird colonies – study

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Up to 90% ‘lost in the blink of an eye’, say scientists studying Cyclone Ilsa’s effect on birds on Western Australian island

Increased tropical cyclones due to global heating could lead to dramatic declines in seabird populations, according to a new study.

Scientists found that after Cyclone Ilsa – a category-5 tropical cyclone – hit Bedout Island in Western Australia in April 2023, several seabird populations experienced a collapse of 80-90% due to the storm at the internationally important breeding site.

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‘You’ve just assaulted me’: Peter Costello accused of ‘violent behaviour’ by News Corp journalist

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Video shows The Australian’s Liam Mendes fall to the ground during encounter with Nine Entertainment chairman at Canberra airport

Peter Costello, the former federal treasurer and current chairman of Nine Entertainment, has been accused of assaulting a journalist from The Australian newspaper as he refused to answer questions about the embattled media company.

But Costello has dismissed the allegations, saying “there was no assault” and that the journalist “fell over an advertising placard”.

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