Customers take to social media to complain after stores in Brisbane and state’s south-east left without fresh produce
A “terrible IT problem” is behind empty shelves at some Woolworths stores in Queensland.
In scenes reminiscent of the panic buying of the early Covid pandemic, some Woolworths chains have been stripped of fruit and vegetables.
Continue reading...Rachel Kefu told Queensland’s supreme court about the impact of the violent attack that left her husband, Toutai Kefu, fighting for his life
Rachel Kefu is plagued by vivid images of her Wallabies star husband and her son bleeding after teenagers armed with a cane-cutting sickle broke into their home.
August 16 had been a special day for her family: in 2003 Toutai Kefu played his 60th rugby union Test match for Australia and their daughter Madison was born.
Continue reading...No sentence could adequately address the ‘devastating effect on the Lovell family’, judge says
A teenager has been sentenced to 14 years’ in jail for the “particularly heinous” murder of Emma Lovell in Brisbane in 2022.
The Queensland supreme court justice Tom Sullivan said the then 17-year-old, who is now 19, hurt more than just the two people he had stabbed – Emma and her husband, Lee Lovell – but had left a “deep impact” on their two daughters as well.
Continue reading...The former Queensland judge leaked his own report to an ABC journalist and The Australian newspaper’s Janet Albrechtsen
The ACT’s integrity watchdog will investigate whether Walter Sofronoff acted corruptly by leaking his final report on the Bruce Lehrmann trial to select journalists ahead of its official release.
On Monday, a statement confirmed the ACT integrity commissioner, Michael Adams, would launch an investigation “into the impugned conduct as [the commissioner] suspects, on reasonable grounds, that Mr Sofronoff’s conduct may constitute corrupt conduct”.
Continue reading...Exclusive: ‘Unauthorised maritime arrivals’ arrive near WA town after two other boat arrivals in last week
Australia’s policy of deterrence against asylum seeker boats is under strain, with three boat arrivals in the last week including four people found near Broome.
In addition to five Rwandans who arrived on Saibai Island and 33 people who landed on Christmas Island, Guardian Australia can reveal that four Vietnamese “unauthorised maritime arrivals” arrived near Broome on Friday morning. The group was intercepted just offshore.
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More details on government’s plan to cap international student numbers
The government has released a little more information on its plan to cap international students in a bid to ease housing shortages and clamp down on sub-standard education providers and agents. It will introduce legislation next week which will:
Prevent education providers from owning education agent businesses.
Pause applications for registration from new international education providers and of new courses from existing providers for periods of up to 12 months.
Require new providers seeking registration to demonstrate a track record of quality education delivery to domestic students before they are allowed to recruit international students.
Cancel dormant provider registrations to prevent them being used as a market entry tool by unscrupulous actors.
Prevent providers under serious regulatory investigation from recruiting new international students.
Improve the sharing of data relating to education agents.
[The Coalition will announce its] energy policy not at the time of the media’s choosing or at a time of the government’s choosing but a time of the Coalition’s choosing.
But it will be very clear in advance of the next election the way we want to go about opening up a new energy source for Australia. That will deliver emissions free energy and lower energy prices by increasing the mix of types of energy over the long term.
Continue reading...Alleged murderer Justin Stein claims nine-year-old schoolgirl was shot dead by her mother, Kallista Mutten, not by him, jury told
A man on trial for murdering Charlise Mutten claims it was the nine-year-old’s mother who shot the schoolgirl rather than him, a court has been told.
Justin Laurens Stein, 33, is accused of murdering Charlise on or around 12 January 2022, at Mount Wilson, in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney.
Continue reading...Notorious alleged jihadi changed from a peaceful convert after being influenced by an ‘inflammatory’ brand of Islam, a magistrate has heard
An accused Australian jihadi was “enticed” by a radical Islam sermon delivered on the day of his conversion and was influenced by members of the mosque, a court has been told.
Once branded Australia’s most-wanted alleged terrorist, Neil Christopher Prakash faced Melbourne magistrates court on Monday accused of six terrorism-related offences.
Continue reading...Melbourne Victory and Wellington Phoenix have it all to play for after a cagey 0-0 draw in the first leg of their A-League Men semi-final at AAMI Park. In a clash of two styles, the Victory were allowed to control the tempo and territory for much of the contest but were unable to create enough clear-cut chances to unlock a determined Phoenix defence on Sunday.
The hosts were the more positive throughout with 20 to six attempts, and five shots on target, while the Nix were content to sit back and play on the counter without managing a single shot on goal. The Victory pushed hard in the dying stages to find a goal to take to Sky Stadium as the Phoenix all but settled for a stalemate from halfway through the second half, with the return leg to be played in New Zealand on Saturday 18 May.
Continue reading...Solar storm effects delight stargazers in Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia but most in NSW miss out
Australians should have a second chance to see the aurora australis on Sunday night, experts say, after a Saturday southern lights display so spectacular it left at least one astronomer in tears.
Social media users posted pictures of brightly coloured skies in Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, and around the world.
Continue reading...About 400 people gather to pay tribute to early childhood educator, wearing bright T-shirts with the slogans ‘#HernameisMolly’ and ‘#Speakup’
A small community in the New South Wales central west has marked Mother’s Day with a walk in memory of Molly Ticehurst, who was allegedly killed by a former partner last month.
Pushing prams and flanked by puppies, families followed the path around Lake Forbes on Sunday. About 400 people gathered, many wearing bright T-shirts with the slogans “#HernameisMolly” and “#Speakup”. They included close friends and family of the 28-year-old.
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Continue reading...More than 100 homes damaged when tornado ripped off roofs, collapsed walls and sucked up debris in state’s south-west
Asbestos scattered over residential streets has prompted a “hazmat emergency” response in Western Australia’s south-west, with specialist crews urgently working to contain any possible exposure aftter a devastating tornado.
More than 100 homes were damaged when the tornado ripped off roofs, collapsed walls and sucked up debris into the sky at Bunbury on Friday afternoon.
Continue reading...SES issues minor flood warnings for the Hawkesbury River at North Richmond and the Colo River
Sydney’s Warragamba dam began spilling over for the second time in a month on Sunday after heavy downpours across New South Wales.
WaterNSW has confirmed the dam began spilling at 7.30am after widespread rain across the city’s catchments.
Continue reading...While politicians argue over who to blame for a decline in Australia’s broadband uptake, customers are seeking more affordable ways to get online
Tens of thousands of Australians are abandoning the National Broadband Network for 5G mobile and other ways of accessing the internet with experts saying three main factors are driving people away: price, speed and Elon Musk.
Despite the NBN being only a few years past completion, between the end of June 2022 and the end of April 2024 the number of customers in the most common category of services declined by more than 65,000.
Continue reading...‘Climate change is a global problem. It needs that global level of collaboration,’ says Larry Marshall
The world needs a “climate armistice” between the US and China if net zero emissions are to be reached while Australia should hone its efforts on a few key areas where it has an unusual competitive edge, Larry Marshall, the former CSIRO chief executive, said.
Speaking ahead of Tuesday’s budget in which the Albanese government’s Future Made In Australia (FMIA) plans will probably be prominent, Marshall said the nation ought to focus any industrial support on sectors such as processing of lithium or vanadium or products that realistically scale up.
Continue reading...Towns across the country are putting on a show as the cold nights draw in. We’ve picked five spots from Queensland to Gippsland to take it in
Autumn is arguably the most beguiling time of year. It’s not too hot, not too cold, and regional towns are basked in alluring shades of auburn, burgundy and orange.
But to experience the season in all its glory, you have to know where to go.
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Continue reading...Government promises $107m package for industry to transition, after years of campaigning against trade
Australia’s live sheep export trade will end on 1 May 2028, the federal government has announced, after years of campaigning by animal welfare advocates.
Labor’s long-held policy to end the sea exports has been opposed by many in the agricultural sector, although the trade has been declining while bans on sending sheep on ships during the Middle Eastern summer were put in place.
Continue reading...Social media users post pictures of skies lit up around the country while the Bureau of Meteorology warns of solar storm’s impacts
Aurora australis has lit up skies across southern Australia after an “extreme” geomagnetic solar storm.
Social media users in posted pictures of brightly coloured skies in Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and across the Tasman in New Zealand.
Continue reading...Warragamba dam in NSW nearing capacity after two West Australians were hospitalised on Friday
Warragamba dam could spill over the Mother’s Day weekend amid severe weather warnings on the east coast, and after a tornado tore through the West Australian city of Bunbury, injuring two people.
WaterNSW issued a warning on Friday that the Warragamba dam was nearing capacity after several days of rainfall, and that a spill event was “likely in coming days”.
Continue reading...Chris Minns says he hopes move will bring ‘some semblance of closure’ to those convicted
The New South Wales government will formally apologise to people convicted under laws criminalising homosexuality in a move the premier hopes will bring closure to those who have been affected.
Coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality, NSW will become the last Australian state to issue an apology after all five others did last decade.
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