Category Archives: Australia news

Feral deer will become Australia’s next feral pig problem without prompt action, report warns

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The invasive species has increased in spread and numbers and is costing farmers millions of dollars

An unpublished government report on feral deer shows Australia is failing in its efforts to stop the spread of what one advocate warns could become “Australia’s next feral pig”.

The five years from 2020-2025 over which the national feral deer action plan was assessed covers a period in which the famously elusive species has increasingly encroached upon major cities, leading to more frequent encounters – including a memorable occasion in which two men in various degrees of undress were fined after becoming lost in the bush when they were spooked by deer while nude sunbathing.

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Sam Wood to remain in custody after another failed bail bid over domestic violence charges

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Former Bachelor star and wellness influencer stands accused of choking and assaulting wife at Noosa in Queensland



Former Bachelor star Sam Wood will remain in custody while he awaits trial on domestic violence charges, after he was refused bail for a second time.

Wood, 46, from Melbourne, has been held in custody since his arrest on 4 October at Noosa.

On Friday supreme court justice Patrick McCafferty said Wood posed “an unacceptable risk” of further offending, meaning he will remain in the high-security Wolston correctional centre until his trial, which the court heard might not take place until 2028.

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Antisemitism envoy proposes ‘external ombudsman’ to monitor ABC and SBS coverage of Israel and Middle East

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Jillian Segal says perception of link between coverage of conflicts and hostility towards Jewish Australians ‘is itself a matter of public importance’

The federal government’s antisemitism envoy has proposed an “external independent ombudsman” to monitor ABC and SBS coverage of the war in Gaza, and a requirement that all visa applicants be screened for “the risk of holding antisemitic views”.

In an updated plan released on Friday, Jillian Segal said Australia’s two public broadcasters should be subjected to greater oversight.

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Lawyers for Marist Brothers face questions over advice to keep serial offender out of ‘legal arena’

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A once-confidential letter says child sexual abuser might implicate senior church officials if allowed near ‘the legal arena’ upon his release from jail

Lawyers from a leading law firm for the Marist Brothers have been subpoenaed to explain a once-confidential document showing they advised the Catholic order to keep a serial offender out of “the legal arena”, suggesting he was too honest and might implicate senior church officials.

The offender was “regrettably up front” about his interactions with senior leadership, and could not be trusted to heed “suggestions” about “not dumping on others excessively”, the document says.

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Erin Patterson to die in prison after losing appeal against mushroom murder convictions

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Victorian court of appeal rules Patterson should be jailed for life with no parole over deadly beef wellington lunch that killed three people

Erin Patterson has lost her bid to overturn her convictions and been resentenced to life behind bars with no chance of release, as Victoria’s highest court handed down its decision on two appeals regarding her triple murder case.

The court of appeal ruled on the two appeals on Friday, after justices Lesley Taylor, Stephen McLeish and Peter Kidd heard arguments from her legal team and prosecutors in August.

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Police investigate gang links as woman, 19, dies after drive-by shooting at Logan pub south of Brisbane

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Vana-Reese Schuster-Togiatau was injured during the shooting outside Fitzy’s Loganholme pub on Saturday

Potential gang involvement in the fatal drive-by shooting of a 19-year-old woman is being investigated by Queensland police.

Vana-Reese Schuster-Togiatau, from Jimboomba, was hit in the head and neck when masked gunmen opened fire into a crowd outside Fitzy’s Loganholme, a pub in Logan, south of Brisbane, on Saturday night.

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Australian SAS officers knew about unlawful ‘throwdowns’ on dead Afghans, report says

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Nothing done to stop planting weapons on dead Afghans, ADF inspector says, as ‘breakdown of command’ allowed ‘egregious behaviour’

Some Australian SAS officers knew that soldiers under their command were using “throwdowns” – planting weapons on dead Afghan civilians to portray them as combatants – but did nothing to stop the unlawful practice, a previously unpublished military report has said.

Posted online this week, the executive summary of a 2021 investigation into the “cultural context” of the special operations command by the inspector general of the Australian Defence Force (IGADF) is scathing about the “breakdown of command” and the erosion of military discipline during special forces operations in Afghanistan, which “resulted in episodes of potential and actual egregious behaviour”.

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‘Worldwide legacy’: almost $20m raised to protect majestic tract of land in far north Queensland

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Bush Heritage hopes to buy Wooroora station, which links wet sclerophyll forest and savanna woodland and is home to 12 endangered species

A majestic tract of land in far north Queensland that links wet tropics and world heritage rainforest, and contains headwaters that flow to the Great Barrier Reef, could be bought and protected by Christmas, after a conservation group raised more than $19m in private donations to buy the cattle station.

Wooroora spans more than 20,000 hectares of largely intact wet sclerophyll forest and savanna woodland on the lands of the Jirrbal people about 100km south-west of Cairns – and borders Bush Heritage’s existing 43,575-hectare Yourka Reserve in one of the most biodiverse regions in Australia.

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Menindee Lakes water levels drop to lowest in five years as experts warn of mass fish deaths

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NSW government imposes water restrictions after Menindee water volumes fall below 2021 levels

Water levels at the Menindee Lakes in western New South Wales have fallen to their lowest point in five years, prompting the state government to impose upstream water use restrictions as experts warn of potential mass fish deaths over summer.

Combined volume at the Menindee Lakes fell below 480 gigalitres earlier this month, the first time since 2021.

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Australia must recruit hundreds more to crew Aukus submarines, retired admiral warns

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As USS Colorado showcases the program in Perth, Peter Briggs says personnel is just one of the ‘huge issues’ it faces

Australia faces an uphill battle to recruit and train enough naval personnel to serve on submarines planned for the future fleet of nuclear-powered vessels under the controversial $368bn Aukus deal, a retired admiral has warned.

As the Virginia-class submarine USS Colorado arrived at HMAS Stirling south of Perth on Tuesday for a month of routine maintenance and to help build Australian expertise, retired admiral Peter Briggs said more people needed to be enrolled in the navy’s submarine program.

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Greens push for human override in aged care assessment after ombudsman’s scathing report into algorithm tool

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Investigation recommends government changes legislation so staff assessing people for home support packages can correct the outcome

The Greens leader, David Shoebridge, has used a scathing report from the commonwealth ombudsman to press the government to use the last two sitting weeks of parliament to restore human override to its “unfair” aged care assessment tool.

The 104-page ombudsman report, published on Monday, recommends the government change legislation so that aged care workers assessing older Australians for home support packages can amend the outcome when the algorithm-driven assessment tool makes an incorrect decision on funding.

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Guardian Essential poll: One Nation and Labor’s primary vote on par as discontent with Albanese rises

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Prime minister’s disapproval rating increases to 56%, the equal highest in Essential polls since he took the job in 2022

One Nation’s primary vote is back on par with Labor in the latest Guardian Essential poll, with Anthony Albanese’s public disapproval rising to its equal highest on record and more Australians than ever before believing the country is on the wrong track.

But Australians are still not convinced One Nation or the Coalition would do a better job than the current government, with Labor still the most trusted party on the economy and managing the country.

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Beau Lamarre-Condon tells jury he wanted to report deaths but friend encouraged him to dispose of bodies

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NSW police officer accused of murdering Jesse Baird and Luke Davies tells court he wanted to do ‘right thing’ by their families

Beau Lamarre-Condon has accused a friend of encouraging him to dispose of the bodies of two men “straight away”, despite him wanting to report the deaths to police, according to his first statement to his double murder trial.

Lamarre-Condon, 31, is accused of fatally shooting couple Jesse Baird and Luke Davies with his police service weapon in Baird’s Paddington home on 19 February 2024.

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iPhone Duo owners report cracks in Apple’s first foldable handset

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Company says small number of devices affected by display glitch after posts appear on Reddit and social media

Owners of the new foldable iPhone are reporting cracks in the device’s screen, as Apple confirmed an issue with a “small number” of units.

Reports of cracks have emerged on Reddit and social media platforms since the handset went on general sale globally on Friday. Experts said there had been too few examples to determine whether there was a more serious problem with Apple’s first foldable device, which retails from $1,999 (£1,499).

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Australians should prepare for online services to go down unexpectedly as threats rise, cyber agency warns

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Australian Signals Directorate chief says advanced AI tools are needed to defend against ‘AI-enabled attackers’

Australians should prepare for more basic and important online services to go offline unexpectedly, the nation’s signals intelligence agency has warned, urging that “system security must be prioritised over system availability”.

The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) also says businesses and critical infrastructure must use cutting-edge AI models to defend against digital threats, raising alarm that artificial intelligence is enabling more dangerous threats than ever.

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Man found dead in Queensland floods named as former councillor and One Nation candidate

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Fraser coast mayor described James Hansen as ‘always ready to help others, contribute to the community and advocate strongly’

James Hansen, a former Queensland councillor, has been identified as the man who died in flooding on the state’s Fraser Coast.

Hansen, 57, was a dairy farmer and fourth-generation resident of the area. He served as a councillor for the Fraser Coast regional council between 2012 and 2024.

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Former RAAF pilot who allegedly murdered wife was ‘love rat’ and ‘master manipulator’, jury hears

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Robert John Crawford on trial after wife found near ride-on lawnmower on their Toowoomba property

A former RAAF pilot was a “love rat” and “master manipulator” who staged his wife’s death to make it appear like an accident, a jury has heard.

Robert John Crawford, 49, pleaded not guilty on Monday to murdering his wife, Frances Elizabeth Crawford, at Upper Lockyer on 29 July 2024.

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Almost two-thirds of Australians bulk-billed for all GP care amid extra incentives for doctors

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Exclusive: RACGP survey reflects Medicare investments, but experts caution quality of care and outcomes also matter

The proportion of general practitioners bulk-billing all of their patients has more than doubled in a year, a report has found, after the government introduced financial incentives for doctors and practices.

And almost two-thirds (63%) of Australians are now bulk-billed for all their GP care, up from 56% in both 2024 and 2025, which the report says is “likely a reflection of the federal government’s recent investment in Medicare bulk billing incentives”.

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‘Unusually large’ multi-state storm causing severe weather for Australia’s east – with more on the way

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BoM predicts hail, damaging winds, flash flooding and power outages across southern Queensland, western NSW, the ACT and eastern Victoria on Sunday afternoon

Large parts of eastern Australia were put on alert for severe thunderstorms on Sunday afternoon with more potential storms and flood risk in store for Monday.

The Bureau of Meteorology said a broad line of storms had already swept through western New South Wales, while eight flood warnings were in place across southern Queensland after days of torrential rain.

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AFP boss says politicians’ heated rhetoric is fuelling threats against MPs

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Commissioner Krissy Barrett says women are more often singled out, often with threats of sexual violence

Australia’s top federal law enforcement official has drawn a direct link between politicians’ rhetoric and threats and abuse being directed at leaders.

The safety of elected representatives at all levels has been thrown into the spotlight after independent MP Helen Haines was allegedly deliberate attacked outside her Wangaratta electoral office.

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