Man and woman found guilty of murder of Sydney teenager Jason Galleghan after AirPods dispute

Galleghan, 16, died of his injuries two days after he was brutally bashed in August 2021

Nearly three years ago, Jason Galleghan met his friends at a western Sydney train station.

A few hours later, the teenager was left for dead after a brutal bashing, lying alone in his boxer shorts.

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As Solomon Islands’ election looms, China’s influence on the Pacific country draws scrutiny

The security deal with Beijing agreed by PM Manasseh Sogavare is under the spotlight ahead of the 17 April vote

China’s influence in the Pacific is being scrutinised as ally Solomon Islands prepares to hold elections this month, with two candidates indicating they would seek to review a controversial security pact between the two countries.

Ties between China and Solomon Islands have deepened under prime minister Manasseh Sogavare, who is hoping to secure another term in the vote on 17 April. Solomon Islands, one of the poorest countries in the Pacific, relies heavily on partners including Australia and China for development aid and support. Beijing’s assistance ranges from infrastructure development, medical, policing and security support.

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Joel Cauchi named as Bondi Westfield attacker who stabbed shoppers

Police believe 40-year-old Queensland man suffered from mental health problems and had only moved to Sydney a month ago

The family of Bondi Junction attacker Joel Cauchi have described his actions as “truly horrific”, offered condolences to the loved ones of the victims and expressed support for the police officer who ended the stabbing spree by shooting him dead.

Police say Cauchi had mental health problems and that he had moved from Queensland to New South Wales only a month before he took a knife into the crowded Sydney mall on Saturday afternoon and killed six people in an unprovoked stabbing spree.

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Australia stabbings: attacker and four victims named – as it happened

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Mental health dimension to Bondi Junction attack – police

Cooke says “nothing that we have, no information we have received, no evidence we have recovered, no intelligence we have gathered that would suggest that this was driven by any particular motivation, ideology or otherwise”.

We know that the offender in the matter suffered, suffers from mental health. We are continuing to work through the profiling of the offender but very clearly to us at this stage it would appear that this is related to the mental health of the individual involved. Investigations will very clearly continue through the day.

We will make arrangements promptly to ensure that people are advised how they can go about retrieving whatever that might be, including for example motor vehicles. But, as you would understand, it is absolutely necessary that we do what is necessary to ensure that we provide a detailed and precise brief of evidence in relation to this incident which has occurred yesterday.

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Industry to face ‘strict tests’ for public funding to incentivise green energy, Jim Chalmers says

Treasurer offers more detail on forthcoming Future Made in Australia plan after concerns raised by productivity commissioner

Tax breaks and subsidies may be offered to industry as part of the government’s yet-to-be-detailed Future Made in Australia plan – but Jim Chalmers says there will be “strict tests” on public funding for the green energy strategy.

The treasurer says there must be “generational change” in Australia to match similar major green economy programs being undertaken by other nations including the US.

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Joel Cauchi: who was the Queensland man who carried out the Bondi Junction mass stabbing?

Police say 40-year-old was an itinerant who moved to NSW last month and had a history of mental illness

Queensland man Joel Cauchi has been named as the man who killed five women and one man at the Bondi Junction shopping centre during a horrific mass stabbing on Saturday.

The 40-year-old was shot dead by a police officer, Amy Scott, who responded to the attack at the busy shopping centre while on duty for an unrelated matter.

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Woman killed in Sydney stabbing attacks was trying to save her baby

Ash Good, who died in shopping centre stabbing spree after handing over infant for treatment, hailed as an ‘incredible mother’

A woman who died after attempting to save her baby during the Sydney stabbing spree has been hailed as an “incredible mother”.

She has been widely named by Australian media as Ash Good, 38, and police said the nine-month-old baby had undergone surgery following the attack at a Sydney shopping centre on Saturday afternoon.

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Cook byelection: Liberal candidate Simon Kennedy wins Scott Morrison’s former seat

The byelection in the south Sydney seat was triggered when the former prime minister announced his resignation from politics in January

Liberal candidate Simon Kennedy has been elected successor to former prime minister Scott Morrison in the seat of Cook in Sydney’s south.

Saturday’s byelection was triggered after Morrison announced his resignation from politics in January.

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Sydney stabbing leaves seven dead, including attacker shot by police, and multiple people in critical condition – as it happened

This live blog is now closed, you can read more on this story here

Attacker had ‘big blade’, witness tells 9 News

Jason, a shopper evacuated from the centre, told 9 News he saw the alleged attacker with a “nice big blade”.

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Sydney stabbing: seven people dead, including attacker shot by police at Bondi Junction shopping centre

Six people in Australia were stabbed to death in Bondi Junction Westfield shopping centre before attacker was shot dead by police officer

Six people have been killed and numerous others injured, including some in critical condition, after a man went on a stabbing spree at Westfield shopping centre in the Sydney suburb of Bondi Junction.

The attacker was shot dead after being chased by a lone police officer who was on duty on an unrelated matter.

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Police officer who shot Bondi Junction attacker wielding a ‘massive’ knife hailed as a hero

Anthony Albanese has praised a lone police officer who pursued a man on a stabbing spree through a shopping mall, saying ‘there is no doubt that she saved lives through her action’

A New South Wales police inspector has been hailed as a hero after she shot dead a man who stabbed six people to death in a shopping centre in Bondi Junction.

The senior officer was conducting routine duties nearby when she was directed to head to Westfield shopping centre following reports a man was using a “massive” knife to stab shoppers.

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Investigation launched after 29-year-old Tasmanian dies in custody

Man found unresponsive shortly after being arrested over a ‘simple offence’ in the Moonah area

Tasmanian authorities have launched an investigation into a man’s death in police custody in Hobart on Saturday.

Police arrested the 29-year-old man from Glenorchy at about 1:55am, after several reports he was acting “in a suspicious and erratic” manner in the Moonah area.

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Coalition hopes to exorcise the ghost of Scott Morrison as Cook goes to the polls

Byelection in the south Sydney seat expected to be won by Liberal candidate Simon Kennedy as AEC warns voter turnout could be low

The Liberal party will be hoping to the exorcise the ghost of Scott Morrison on Saturday as voters in Sydney’s south go to the polls to elect his replacement.

The byelection in the seat of Cook, which comes after Morrison announced his resignation from politics in January, is almost certain to be won by the Liberal candidate Simon Kennedy.

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Top environmental groups say some of Labor’s new laws could take conservation backwards

Alliance says there’s not enough ambition in proposed laws to prevent extinctions, as promised by the environment minister

The Albanese government is backing away from a promise to substantially transform how nature is protected in Australia and is planning some changes that would make things worse, according to eight of the country’s top environment groups.

The conservation organisations said they were concerned the government planned to break up promised legislation for new environmental laws and defer some difficult reforms until after the next election, if it wins a second term.

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Include a “call-in” power that allowed the minister to take over a decision from a proposed environment protection agency (EPA) “at any time and for any reason”.

Allow developers to make payments to a new “restoration contributions” fund to compensate for damage their projects caused to the environment. This would remove a requirement that environmental offsets provide a “like-for-like” replacement for ecosystems or species affected by a development.

Fail to give the new EPA the “teeth” it needed to be an independent and effective environmental regulator.

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Australians dropping fruit and vegetables from diet amid cost-of-living crisis

ABS data shows changes in grocery consumption, prompting concerns over eating habits and the nation’s health

Australians are buying less fruit and vegetables and consuming less milk, as relentless increases in grocery prices upend eating habits, raising concerns over the nation’s health.

Overall, shoppers are buying less of just about everything, with consumption falling from 15.1m tonnes to 14.8m tonnes in 2022-23, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data released on Friday.

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Teenage boy charged with murder after multiple stabbings near Sydney school

New South Wales police say a 16-year-old has been charged over death of 18-year-old and will appear in court on Saturday

A 16-year-old boy has been charged with murder after two stabbings, one of which resulted in the death of another teenager, near a school in western Sydney on Friday.

Emergency services responded to reports that two teenagers had been stabbed near a school on Power Street in Doonside at about 3.40pm on Friday.

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Childcare workers to get wage boost in budget as Australia battles staff shortages

Exclusive: Move is intended to prevent workers from leaving for other sectors, including aged care, where wages were recently increased

The Albanese government is in the final stages of signing off on a boost to childcare workers wages as a centrepiece of next month’s budget.

Guardian Australia understands the budget razor gang, the expenditure review committee, has considered a number of proposals on the sector-wide wage increase, which would see the government cover a significant pay rise for early childcare educators.

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Cars submerged and shopping centre roof collapses as severe storm hits Perth

About 50 calls to SES for assistance as ‘very localised’ storm reportedly dumped up to 130mm of rain in less than an hour

Parts of Perth broke a six-month-long dry spell on Friday with a fierce storm and flash flooding that left people stranded in submerged cars and caused part of a shopping centre roof to collapse.

A spokesperson for WA’s emergency services said SES volunteers had been going “flat out” to help fire crews with rescues. There had been about 50 calls for assistance over the course of the afternoon.

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Many aged care workers may wait until 2026 for full pay increase as Albanese government requests phased implementation

Commonwealth requests Fair Work Commission phase in full 23% increase over two years to prevent workforce shortages elsewhere

Aged care workers should wait until January 2026 for the full 23% pay rise ordered by the Fair Work Commission, according to the Albanese government.

The commonwealth has requested that the commission phase in the increase over two years, from January 2025 and 2026, to prevent “large one-off wage increases” that would add to workforce shortages elsewhere in the economy.

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Australia news live: Tasmanian premier says ‘never appropriate’ to compare Port Arthur massacre to anything; stabbing at Bondi beach

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The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has defended his comments comparing a pro-Palestinian protest at the Sydney Opera House to the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, AAP reports.

Speaking on the Today show, Dutton stood by his remark and said the comparison was a commentary on the prime minister’s leadership:

The point I was making – which is absolutely a legitimate one – is that I thought this was a time for the prime minister to show leadership and to step up. Instead, we’ve had crickets.

You’ve got a contrast, I think, with John Howard, who stood up at a point of national importance for our country, demonstrated leadership and changed the course of history for the better.

That’s the parallel that I’m making – to the absolute absence of leadership from the prime minister at the moment, which has given rise to those in the Jewish community talking about feeling unsafe in our country.

I don’t resile from that at all.

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