Defence minister Richard Marles says protests made to Beijing over ‘unacceptable’ altercation that forced pilot on UN mission to avoid being hit
The federal government has accused a Chinese fighter jet of dropping flares dangerously close to an Australian helicopter on a United Nations mission in international waters.
The defence minister, Richard Marles, branded the incident “unacceptable”.
Continue reading...Former army lawyer asks for leniency on basis of ‘exemplary character’ after pleading guilty to leaking secret defence documents to media
The commonwealth wants to see army whistleblower David McBride in jail for more than two years for his role in leaking secret defence documents on the Afghanistan war to the media, a court has heard.
At a sentencing hearing on Monday, a decade after McBride first began secretly taking classified documents from the Australian defence force where he worked as an army lawyer, the commonwealth’s counsel, Trish McDonald, said McBride’s actions amounted to “egregious conduct” and affected how defence conducted some operations as well as Australia’s relations with allies.
Continue reading...While the new CEO has stemmed some of the reputational damage of the past, the $120m fine is a clear success for the ACCC
In agreeing to pay a $100m penalty and compensate tens of thousands of customers to the tune of $20m for selling them tickets on already-cancelled flights, Qantas has abandoned its farcical claim that as an airline it doesn’t sell seats on a specific service, but rather a “bundle of rights”.
For new CEO Vanessa Hudson – who stepped into the top job eight months ago after allegations aired in the consumer watchdog’s legal action against Qantas hastened former boss Alan Joyce’s retirement – the landmark settlement is a retreat from her predecessor’s confrontational style that many argued had trashed the airline’s brand.
Continue reading...Glen Coleman did not deny he had sex with the woman at Windsor police station but said it was consensual
After a teenager attended a western Sydney police station to make a sexual crime complaint, a detective abused his position to touch, grope and rape her, a jury has been told.
Glen Coleman met the 19-year-old at Windsor police station in February 2022 after she came in to make a complaint that her cousin had threatened to share naked images of her online.
Continue reading...Women’s Legal Services Australia says fathers take ‘extraordinary measures’ to reduce taxable income and support payments
Child support has become a “tool of violence” used to economically abuse women in Australia, new research has found.
Those paying child support are overwhelmingly men and some are coercing and controlling payees – mostly women – through avoiding payment.
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‘Lower the temperature’ on protests at university campuses, education minister says
The education minister was also asked about the pro-Palestine encampments taking place across Australian universities, and whether they should be allowed to continue for as long as students are willing to man them.
There’s always going to be protests in a democracy, that’s part of being a democracy. What there’s no place for is hate or violence or prejudice or discrimination and certainly no place [for] antisemitism or Islamophobia – whether it’s on our university campuses or anywhere else in the country.
What I’d say is that we’ve just got to lower the temperature. You know, what’s happening on the other side of the world is trying to pull our country apart. We’ve got to work together – whether it’s politicians or religious leaders or community leaders, whether it’s the media, or student representatives – to work to keep our country together, not let it get pulled apart.
There’ll be a lot of people who will still be able to work at the same time as they’re doing [placements]. But there are people who can’t [and] this will provide that bit of extra help to pay the bills, put food on the table, pay for transport, sometimes the relocation costs that come with prac.
The commonwealth government hasn’t done this before. This is the first time that this has happened. It’s happened in the in response to calls from students – both teaching students and nursing students and social work students – across the country, and it’s come out of the work for the universities accord team that heard loud and clear that there is placement poverty in this country.
Continue reading...Ministers promise ‘responsible middle path’ and hint at second consecutive surplus but warn some spending deficits will remain
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has declared next week’s budget neither the time for “scorched-earth austerity” nor for unrestrained spending as he hints again at a possible second consecutive surplus.
“The budget is in much better nick than the budget that we inherited almost precisely two years ago,” Chalmers said on Monday.
Continue reading...Families of two Australians and American who went missing in Baja California have identified the bodies, officials say
Mexican authorities have identified the three dead bodies found in a well in Mexico as Australian brothers Callum and Jake Robinson and their travelling companion, Jack Carter Rhoad.
The trio, who went missing in the Pacific coast state of Baja California, were killed with gunshots to the head, Mexican authorities said on Sunday.
Continue reading...Carly Kind’s comments come after major leak of customer data collected by IT provider for NSW and ACT clubs
The Australian privacy commissioner has warned third party suppliers are “a real weak spot” for protecting customer privacy after Australian user details were compromised in a leak of supplier data held by NSW and ACT clubs.
Last week more than 1 million people had their personal information including names, addresses, and driver’s licence information exposed after data collected by IT provider Outabox was published online. Outabox’s customers included dozens of clubs in New South Wales, including hospitality giant Merivale.
Continue reading...Midwives and social workers will also be given $320 weekly payment for undertaking mandatory work placements at university
Student teachers, nurses, midwives and social workers will receive a $320 weekly payment during their mandatory placements under a new cost-of-living measure in the May budget.
The Albanese government will establish a commonwealth practical payment for 68,000 university students and 5,000 vocational education and training students undertaking mandatory workplace placements as part of their courses.
Continue reading...Analysis of Facebook data finds engagement with news is at an all-time low – due at least in part to changes to Meta’s algorithms
Meta has refused to enter into new deals with Australian media publishers for the use of their content on Facebook, leading to fears it may again implement a ban on news content appearing on the platform. But an analysis of Facebook data suggests engagement with posts from news organisations is already at an all-time low, as memes fill the space.
Meta has argued that news makes up just 3% of what people engage with on its services.
Continue reading...Woman and man, aged 21 and 23, facing charges including murder and deprivation of liberty after alleged victim died in hospital
A Queensland man who was allegedly held captive, tortured and beaten at a remote property north of Brisbane has died in hospital, police say.
A woman and man, aged 21 and 23, had initially been charged with attempted murder and a series of other offences after police were called to the property at Mount Mee on Wednesday evening.
Continue reading...By Sunday morning the city had recorded 92.8mm of rain this month – fast approaching May average of 117.4mm, BoM says
The wet start to May for much of New South Wales is likely to continue for another week, with a severe weather warning for the state’s south coast and flash flooding on the Central Coast.
Sydney’s Observatory Hill had, by Sunday morning, recorded 92.8mm of rain this month – and was fast approaching the May average of 117.4mm.
Continue reading...Katy Gallagher says more aid for women escaping violence could come in form of increased rent assistance as sector struggles to recruit workers
Just 30 of the 500 frontline domestic violence workers promised by the Albanese government have been delivered so far, the minister for women, Katy Gallagher, says.
Gallagher, who is also the finance minister, revealed the difficulty recruiting workers in a pre-budget interview with ABC’s Insiders, suggesting that further help for women escaping violence could come in the form of increased rent assistance.
Continue reading...WA premier Roger Cook suggests teenager who allegedly stabbed man in Bunnings car park in Willetton may have been radicalised online
Western Australian police say they have shot and killed a teenager who allegedly attacked a man in a Perth car park on Saturday night.
Detectives on Sunday said there was no ongoing threat to the public and the 16-year-old was believed to have been acting alone in Willetton.
Continue reading...Program aims to help create better disability support plans to guide carers and support workers’ response to challenging behaviour
Australian researchers hope a new AI-supported educational program will help reduce the use of restraints and seclusion on people with disability.
The Promoting Positive Behaviour Support Practice program is designed to help practitioners create safer, respectful, constructive plans to guide carers and support workers’ responses to challenging behaviour.
Continue reading...‘Some negative projects will get up, but we have to keep our eyes on the broader goals’, says WWF Australia
A map of operating windfarms in Queensland does not take too long to survey – of the 100 or so across Australia, only six of them are in the sunshine state.
But this is about to change in a very big way. According to state government data, there are 46 separate proposals for windfarms in Queensland with four more already under construction.
Continue reading...The set of folios published by John Gould will be presented at Firsts book fair in London in mid-May
John Gould was one of the most sought-after taxidermists in 19th-century London, commissioned by King George IV to stuff the first giraffe to arrive in England.
But Gould’s lasting legacy is birds. He travelled the world documenting and cataloguing as many avian species as he could find, many of them never seen before, earning him the nickname the Bird Man and the appointment as official “bird stuffer” to the Zoological Society.
Continue reading...Sydney airport is auctioning off more than 2,500 unclaimed items, including a wedding dress, an electric scooter and a collection of lightsabers
A jaffle maker, a leaf blower and a Darth Vader helmet are just some of the items left behind by passengers at Sydney airport that are up for auction in the airport’s annual charity event.
Millions of passengers pass through Sydney airport each month, and sometimes items go missing. Those left unclaimed are donated to local charities or sold at auction, with the proceeds going to charity.
Continue reading...Police investigating after Brittany Lauga allegedly assaulted in central Queensland town of Yeppoon
Queensland Labor MP Brittany Lauga has alleged she was drugged and sexually assaulted in the central Queensland town of Yeppoon last weekend, and claims other women may also have been similarly attacked.
Lauga posted a statement on social media, saying she had contacted police early on the morning of Sunday 28 April.
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