Category Archives: Australia news

Australian MP Dan Repacholi shoots for Olympic Games record

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The first-term federal Labor MP is in Azerbaijan where he hopes to qualify for Paris in the men’s 10-metre air pistol shooting event

From Cessnock to Canberra to the Caspian Sea, the Hunter MP, Dan Repacholi, has flown to Azerbaijan chasing a historic feat. The first-term parliamentarian is gunning to become one of what is believed to be only two federal politicians to qualify for an Olympic Games.

He hopes it is the final stage of qualifying for what would be Repacholi’s sixth Olympic Games, a record currently bettered by only one Australian Olympian in history. In Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku on Friday, he will be seeking qualification in the men’s 10-metre air pistol shooting event for the Paris Games in August.

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Majority of university chiefs in Victoria earn over $1m despite budget woes

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Federal government vows crackdown as institutions increased their vice-chancellor’s salaries amid job losses in the sector

More than half of Victoria’s vice chancellors are earning annual salaries of more than $1m, new data reveals, as the federal government vows to to crack down on excessive senior university pay packages.

The 2023 annual reports of Victorian universities, lodged on Wednesday, revealed six of Victoria’s eight vice-chancellors had their salaries boosted last year, including separate rises of more than $50,000.

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Bonza administrators in global talks on grounded budget carrier that helped ‘push down air fares’

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Transport minister Catherine King says it is unlikely the airline will be saved, while insiders think repossessed planes will be returned to the US

The administrators determining Bonza’s future have held round-the-clock talks, including with international aviation figures and the owner of the airline’s aircraft, as Australia’s airports maintain the budget carrier was “instrumental in improving competition and pushing down air fares”.

Administrators had meetings scheduled late on Wednesday evening and into Thursday morning with “key industry participants” in Australia and overseas, their second day working to such a schedule. They also had an “open dialogue with the lessor of the company’s fleet” of Boeing 737 Max 8 planes that remain parked at airports across the country.

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Bruce Lehrmann granted extension to consider appeal of defamation ruling in Network Ten case

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Justice Michael Lee labels Ten lawyer’s comments outside court following judgment ‘discourteous’ and ‘misleading’

Bruce Lehrmann has been granted an extension of time to consider an appeal at a federal court hearing which saw Network Ten’s conduct outside the court, after the judgment, described by Justice Michael Lee as “discourteous” and “misleading”.

Lee said Ten’s decision to offer comment outside his court minutes after the judgment was handed down had caused him concern, in particular the claim the network had been vindicated.

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‘Quiet and respectful’ Sydney teenager part of group wanting to stab non-Muslims, court told

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Court told during bail hearing that 15-year-old wanted to ‘do an attack’ and had ‘hatred’ for ‘kuffar’

A “quiet and respectful” 15-year-old being held on terrorism charges was allegedly part of a group chat in which he professed to wanting to “stab” and “attack” non-Muslims, a court has heard.

The messages were revealed in Parramatta children’s court on Wednesday as part of the teenager’s application for bail, after he was arrested and charged after recent counter-terrorism raids.

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Australia news live: Pauline Hanson ‘plainly targeted’ Greens senator with well-known racist phrase, court told

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Final submissions begin in racial discrimination case brought by Mehreen Faruqi against Hanson. Follow the today’s news live

As we flagged earlier, the treasurer Jim Chalmers will today announce foreign investment changes, with approvals to be made quicker and greater scrutiny to be placed on potential risks.

You can read all the details on this from Peter Hannam below:

Right now, we treat investments from right around the world more or less the same. We want to streamline it for the less-risky investments so we can devote much more time and energy and resources to screening the sorts of investments that we’re seeing in critical industries – like critical minerals, critical infrastructure, critical data, and the like.

This is all about strengthening the foreign investment framework to make sure that investment is in the national interest. We want to maximise the right kind of investment, but we want to minimise risk and that’s what these changes I’ll announce today are all about.

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Qantas passengers’ personal details exposed as airline app logs users into wrong account

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Airline investigating whether privacy breach allowing customers to view others’ account details was caused by ‘recent system changes’

Potentially thousands of Qantas customers have had their personal details made public via the airline’s app, with some frequent flyers able to view strangers’ account details and possibly make changes to other users’ bookings.

Clare Gemmell from Sydney said that she and four colleagues encountered the problem shortly after 8.30 on Wednesday morning.

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Australia expelled two Indian intelligence operatives in 2020 as part of ‘nest of spies’, reports claim

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Asio director general Mike Burgess had referred to expulsion of foreign operatives in 2021 speech but did not name country behind threat

Australia reportedly expelled two Indian intelligence officers in 2020 after Asio alleged a “nest of spies” had sought to cultivate politicians, monitor diaspora communities and obtain classified trade information and airport security protocols.

The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that two officers from the Research and Analysis Wing, India’s foreign intelligence service, had been expelled from Australia in 2020. The newspaper reported the incident was one of “a series of clashes between RAW and western domestic security services.”

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Australian government pledges almost $1bn to help women leave violent relationships

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‘Leaving violence payment’ of $5,000 will help women escape abusive relationships with money for services, risk assessments and safety planning

Anthony Albanese has announced $925m to help victims of violence leave abusive relationships and a ban on deepfake pornography as new measures to combat violence against women.

After a national cabinet meeting on Wednesday, the prime minister announced the “leaving violence payment” of $5,000 to help meet the costs of leaving a relationship along with services, risk assessments and safety planning.

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Queensland Labor to remove principle of detention as last resort from Youth Justice Act

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Steven Miles’ government claims to have legal advice from Crown Law and solicitor general that amendments will not violate Human Rights Act or international law

The principle of detention as a last resort will be removed from the Queensland Youth Justice Act, under legislation introduced by the Labor government on Wednesday.

The Youth Justice Act will be redrafted to read: “A child should be detained in custody, where necessary, including to ensure community safety, where other non-custodial measures of prevention and intervention would not be sufficient, and for no longer than necessary to meet the purpose of detention.”

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‘The model is broken’: Brisbane live music venue the Zoo to close after 32 years

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Fortitude Valley institution and sister venue Stranded will soon shut as owner cites cost-of-living pressures and young people drinking less

The Brisbane music venue the Zoo will call last drinks in July, with the owner listing a “perfect storm” of forces leading to its closure, including cost-of-living pressures and declining alcohol consumption among young people.

The 500-capacity room, which first opened its doors on Ann Street in 1992 in the formerly down-at-heel but now heavily gentrified inner suburb of Fortitude Valley, is one of Australia’s oldest music venues.

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Grounded: Bonza set to join long list of failed Australian airlines

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Australia’s aviation industry, dominated by the Qantas-Virgin duopoly, may have claimed another victim – but it’s far from the first to fall

The future of Bonza is in limbo as the fledgling budget airline enters voluntary administration – a well-trodden path in Australian aviation.

While Tuesday’s developments may come as a blow to competition in an industry dominated by a duopoly, the abrupt cancellation of services and seizure of planes will trigger memories of a long history of fallen Australian carriers.

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AGL’s use of Centrepay not audited for two years despite allegations it wrongly took $700,000 from vulnerable Australians

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Services Australia says it is also working to retrieve overpayments from Queensland’s Ergon Energy

The federal government has not audited AGL’s use of Centrepay in two years despite revelations that the energy giant wrongly received more than $700,000 in welfare money from its former customers through the government-run debit system.

A Guardian Australia investigation of Centrepay, a system allowing businesses access to welfare payments before they hit recipients’ bank accounts, has revealed significant failings.

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Albanese calls for debate on blocking online misogynistic content at snap national cabinet meeting

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Labor to focus on online harms at national cabinet meeting on women’s safety as others call for further needs-based funding and bail reform

Anthony Albanese has called for a debate on the blocking of misogynistic content online ahead of a snap national cabinet focused on women’s safety.

In addition to information sharing on high-risk perpetrators and serial offenders, the federal government has signalled strengthening violence prevention through a focus on online harms will be a priority at Wednesday’s meeting, the first national cabinet of 2024.

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Labor to fast-track foreign investment to help fund future industrial policy

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Treasurer Jim Chalmers will set a target of 30 days to clear cases as he seeks money for build-to-rent and energy transition

Foreign investment approvals will be made quicker but greater scrutiny will be placed on potential risks as Australia tries to balance economic and security interests, treasury Jim Chalmers will say on Wednesday.

Treasury will set a target to process half of foreign investment cases needing approval within 30 days after from next January, Chalmers will tell the Lowy Institute in Sydney. It will also seek more funds from abroad to support so-called build-to-rent housing ventures and the energy transition off fossil fuels.

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NSW government’s debt collection agency broke law using automated bank withdrawals

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Ombudsman report finds Revenue NSW engaged in ‘maladministration’ by taking money directly out of millions of bank accounts

The New South Wales government’s debt collection agency broke the law when it used an automated system to withdraw money from millions of bank accounts to claw back unpaid fines, a scathing report has found.

The NSW ombudsman Paul Miller’s report, released on Tuesday, found Revenue NSW’s use of AI to generate garnishee orders broke the law from its introduction in 2016 until 2019, and that it was “wrong” until March 2022.

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Queensland’s $1.28bn community safety plan includes transporting detained children for schooling

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Exclusive: The raft of new laws includes expanding a trial of metal detectors to now include shopping centres and other high-risk locations

Queensland will introduce laws to bus children between police watch houses and youth detention centres as part of a $1.28bn community safety plan announced this week.

Guardian Australia understands the measure, set to be announced on Wednesday, will see children transported between facilities to ensure they receive exercise and access to rehabilitation services, schooling and support programs.

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More than 90% of marine animals caught in NSW shark nets over summer were non-target species

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Exclusive: New documents reveal NSW government division over controversial program as data reveals death toll

More than 90% of marine animals caught in shark nets off New South Wales beaches over the summer were non-target species, with new documents revealing division within the government over the controversial program.

More than half of the 208 non-target species – such as turtles, dolphins and smaller sharks – that were caught in the nets over the past eight months were killed, data obtained by conservationists show.

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Solomon Islands PM Manasseh Sogavare to stand down after poor election result

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Leader says ‘it’s not been easy’ as he stands aside five years after controversially realigning the country with China

The Solomon Islands prime minister, Manasseh Sogavare, has announced he will not stand as a candidate when lawmakers vote this week for a new leader, and his political party would instead back former foreign minister Jeremiah Manele.

The two major opposition parties in the Solomon Islands struck a coalition deal on Saturday as they vie with Sogavare’s party to form a government after an election delivered no clear winner.

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Mining firm BHP offers $25.7bn settlement for Brazil dam disaster

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Australian company and its partner Vale unleashed largest spill of mining waste in history

The mining company BHP has said it hopes to secure a $25.7bn (£20bn) settlement over the 2015 Samarco disaster, when the collapse of a dam left at least 19 people dead, 700 homeless and spread unprecedented levels of pollutants across the rivers and landscape of Brazil.

BHP said it had offered the settlement to the Brazilian authorities in partnership with fellow miner Vale, its 50:50 joint venture partner in a local subsidiary, Samarco.

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