Category Archives: Australia news

ABC Radio’s Sydney Drive host Richard Glover to retire after 26 years with station

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Announcement is second major move this week by a presenter at the broadcaster, with Patricia Karvelas to leave Radio National Breakfast

ABC Radio’s Sydney Drive host, Richard Glover, will retire next month after a record 26 years behind the local radio microphone.

The announcement, made on his program on Friday afternoon, is the second major move this week by a presenter at ABC Radio. Patricia Karvelas is leaving Radio National Breakfast after three years.

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Woman’s arm severed in dog attack in north Queensland

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Police euthanise the animal after being called to an incident at a property in Townsville

A woman has been taken to hospital after her arm was severed in a vicious dog attack in north Queensland.

Emergency services were called to reports of a dog mauling at a Lonerganne Street property in Garbutt, a suburb of Townsville, just after 7am on Friday.

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Alleged domestic violence perpetrators to wear ankle bracelets under NSW bail reforms

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Corrective services will electronically monitor whereabouts of people released from custody while charged with serious offences

Alleged perpetrators charged with serious domestic violence offences in New South Wales will wear ankle bracelets and have their movements tracked around the clock if they are granted bail.

The NSW government announced the changes would take effect on Friday, and would involve corrective services electronically monitoring alleged perpetrators against geographic bail conditions using GPS technology.

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Glitter has lost its shine – but scientists may have found a safer substitute

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Shimmery cellulose-based alternative looks safer for soil than conventional microplastics, Australian-led research finds

Even before Taylor Swift donned “glitter freckles”, the sparkly stuff was prolific – sold in tiny vials at craft shops, and sprinkled on to a variety of products from clothing to Christmas decorations, cards and makeup.

Glitter ends up everywhere: in the environment as well as the carpet.

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NSW police union pushes back at premier’s suggestion pro-Palestine protests divert resources from crime

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Police association boss says vast majority of officers at weekend rally were ‘doing user-pay or cancelled rest day’ shifts

The head of the New South Wales police union has denied any suggestion that patrolling weekly pro-Palestine protests is making it difficult to respond to or investigate crime across the state.

Kevin Morton’s comments came as the premier, Chris Minns, was forced to deny he had lost control of the Labor caucus after several of his MPs expressed alarm at his statement that police should be able to reject a protest permit based on the cost of patrolling it.

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Fixed and variable home loans fall ahead of expected cash rate cut by RBA

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Australia’s interest rate is forecast to fall from 4.35% to 3.6% by this time next year, prompting seven lenders to cut their rates this week

Lenders have started lowering their mortgage rates en masse influenced by expectations of future interest rate cuts by the Reserve Bank – moves that could tempt borrowers to restructure their home loans.

The downward drift in rates is especially prevalent in fixed loans, with seven lenders cutting their rates by an average of 0.3 percentage points over the past week, according to Canstar. Four lenders cut variable rates by smaller margins.

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Social media platforms with ‘low risk of harm to children’ could escape Albanese government age ban

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Communications minister Michelle Rowland says ‘likely’ changes to Online Safety Act ‘will place onus on platforms, not parents or young people’

Social media companies could escape the Albanese government’s proposed age ban if they can demonstrate a “low risk of harm to children”, the communications minister, Michelle Rowland, has said.

Rowland will announce on Friday that the “likely” amendments to the Online Safety Act banning children from social media will “place the onus on platforms, not parents or young people” to enforce the ban.

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British musician and broadcaster Yung Filly charged with rape and assault

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Former BBC host, with millions of social media followers, was arrested in Australia following alleged attack on woman in Perth hotel room

The British rapper, YouTuber and television personality Yung Filly has been arrested in Australia and charged with rape and assault.

The 29-year-old, born Andrés Felipe Valencia Barrientos, who was on tour in the country, was arrested in Brisbane and taken to Perth where the alleged incidents occurred.

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Australia politics live: Richard Marles tells question time ‘I feel very sad that events have got to where they have’ after chief of staff’s bullying allegations

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Follow today’s news live

The opposition communications spokesperson, David Coleman, is speaking to ABC radio RN, criticising the government’s legislation designed to keep the NBN in public hands.

He is having trouble saying whether the opposition will support the bill, or whether a future Coalition government would want to sell the NBN.

We’re not going to just sort of immediately jump at some silly theatrical statement from the government. The adults in the room will review this in a normal way.

We’ve got no intention of changing the ownership structure of the NBN. Nobody does. And frankly, because the NBN is going so badly, there’s not exactly a lineup of people [wanting to buy it].

Parents are crying out for a degree of certainty, they’re crying out for government guidance, a lot more rule that people can follow. That doesn’t mean there won’t be challenging but at least provides a starting point for parents. It gives them a tool about how to address this and parents who have gone through all this and all the pain that social media can place upon their children, they’re the ones I think are the most powerful advocates for this reform.

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Three dogs shot dead by police after mauling woman in Melbourne back yard

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Woman taken to hospital in a critical condition after being attacked by the dogs

Three dogs have been shot dead by police who were trying to save a woman being mauled in a Melbourne back yard.

Police were called to Ross Street at Dandenong in the city’s outer south-east about 10am on Thursday, where the woman was being attacked by the dogs in a back yard.

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Record $8m compensation for victim of paedophile teacher at infamous Victorian public school

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Former Beaumaris primary school student will receive biggest known payout by a state government to a sexual abuse survivor in Australia

A sexual abuse survivor from an infamous Victorian public school will receive a record $8m settlement from the education department, and the state government could be on the hook for more compensation.

The former student was sexually abused at Beaumaris primary school by Darrell Ray, one of four paedophiles who taught at the school in Melbourne’s south-east in the 60s and 70s.

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Man who lit Melbourne bushfires and embraced ‘depraved ideology’ of Islamic State jailed for eight years

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Judge says offending by Aran Sherani, who pledged allegiance to terrorist organisation, ‘must be denounced’

A convicted terrorist has been jailed for eight years after he filmed himself pledging allegiance to Islamic State.

A supreme court jury in 2023 found Aran Sherani, 22, guilty of preparing for a terrorist act over the 2021 video.

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Pilot who died when helicopter crashed into Cairns hotel was ‘affected by alcohol’, ATSB finds

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Blake Wilson was killed when aircraft on ‘unauthorised flight’ struck roof of DoubleTree by Hilton hotel in August

A pilot who died when the helicopter he was flying crashed into a Cairns hotel was “affected by a significant amount of alcohol” at the time, the country’s air safety investigator has found.

Investigators on Thursday said Blake Wilson, 23, took the helicopter from a far north Queensland airport hangar for an “unnecessary and unauthorised” flight after a night of drinking in August.

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Revealed: University of Sydney spent millions more on consultants than repaying wages of casual staff

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Greens say revelations a ‘damning indictment’ that speak to a ‘broken governance culture’ at prestigious universities

The University of Sydney has spent millions of dollars more on external contractors and consultants – including PwC – for calculating and administering liability for wage underpayments and a review of its systems than it has paid out to staff, answers provided to the Greens have revealed.

In the answers to supplementary questions, provided to chair of the New South Wales education committee, Greens MLC Abigail Boyd, it was revealed the university had repaid 514 casual staff a total value of $2.8m as of last month, while across all “remediation work streams”, it had paid 10,692 professional staff a total value of $17.4m.

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Crumbl Cookies to open in Australia after viral unofficial pop-up at Bondi Beach turned stale

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US brand says it was ‘inspired’ by local fans flying in cookies from the US and selling them at the weekend – for $17.50 each

Popular US-based brand Crumbl Cookies has announced it will fast-track plans to open in Australia, after a rogue pop-up stand in Sydney created huge hype for the company’s kilojoule-filled products.

The announcement comes after unaffiliated fans of the American company flew in hundreds of cookies to sell at a temporary store near Sydney’s Bondi Beach, charging $17.50 a biscuit. The cookies usually sell for US$4.49 ($6.67) in the US.

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Man dies after being shot by police amid alleged theft of car belonging to Labor MP’s husband

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A 26-year-old man has died after he and another man, 34, were shot by police while allegedly driving a stolen car at officers

A man shot by police in Wentworthville in Sydney last week after an alleged car theft has died, NSW police said.

Two men were shot by police after officers were called to the scene at about 12.10pm on Friday, responding to a report of a stolen car in a Wentworthville car park in Sydney’s west. The officers fired their guns at the vehicle after it was allegedly driven at them.

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Rio Tinto to buy US lithium producer Arcadium in $6.7bn deal

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Acquisition by Anglo-Australian miner comes despite global headwinds in electric car market

Rio Tinto is to buy the US company Arcadium Lithium for $6.7bn (£5.1bn), in a huge bet on the energy transition despite global headwinds in the electric car market.

The Anglo-Australian metals and mining company said it would pay $5.85 a share for the US-based lithium miner. That represents an almost 90% premium to Arcadium’s closing price of $3.08 a share on 3 October, the day before news of a potential deal emerged.

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Sudden ‘period of leave’ for head of Department of Parliamentary Services

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Former anti-corruption commissioner steps in after Rob Stefanic announces decision to take leave

The head of the Department of Parliamentary Services has announced a sudden “period of leave”, leaving a former anti-corruption commissioner in charge of the department.

The secretary, Rob Stefanic, announced to staff in an email on Wednesday morning he had made a decision to “take a period of leave”.

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Crisafulli wedged on abortion as Katter party flags vote to criminalise terminations

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Exclusive: Robbie Katter says he will immediately sponsor a bill to amend the current legislation if the LNP is elected this month

The Queensland crossbencher Robbie Katter says he will consider forcing a vote to recriminalise abortion if the Liberal National party wins government at this month’s state election.

Katter says he will table legislation to wind back current laws with one option a “clean repeal” of Labor’s 2018 Termination of Pregnancy Act, a move that would return abortion to the 1899 criminal code.

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Australia’s coalmines and gasfields may be emitting twice as much methane as declared, report warns

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Superpower Institute says analysis of Queensland, NSW and Victorian sites shows need for independent reporting of greenhouse gas emissions

Australia’s coalmines and gasfields may be emitting twice as much methane as they currently declare, underscoring the need to introduce independent reporting of the potent greenhouse gas, an energy thinktank has warned.

The Superpower Institute’s Open Methane tool used satellites and ground-based verification to identify 20 “sites of concern” – all involving coal and gas operations – that are releasing “around double” the amount of methane reported.

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