Category Archives: Australia news

Australia urged to boost Antarctic science and use second ship to increase number of voyages

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Senate inquiry finds axed scientific programs, toxic workplace culture and a trouble-plagued icebreaker among problems

The Australian government should consider introducing a second ship to increase the number of voyages to the southern continent to significantly boost Antarctic science, a cross-party parliamentary committee has recommended.

The Senate inquiry into the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) found axed scientific programs, a toxic workplace culture and a trouble-plagued icebreaker were some of problems stemming from failures in the division’s funding and governance model.

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Flawed immigration detention risk assessment tool can’t be upgraded as ABF data ‘riddled with errors’

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Exclusive: One detainee recorded as being involved in ‘over 3,000 incidents’ in a year – an ‘incredibly unfeasible’ scenario, FOI documents say

The secretive risk assessment tool used in Australia’s immigration detention centres could not be replaced by a better model due to insufficient data collection by Australian Border Force, documents reveal.

The security risk assessment tool is meant to determine whether someone is low, medium, high or extreme risk for escape or violence. It calculates risk ratings based on factors including pre-detention history and episodes that can occur in detention, such as possessing contraband or refusing food or fluids.

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Trial of pilot Greg Lynn begins over alleged murders of Victorian campers Russell Hill and Carol Clay

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Lawyers to open their case after Lynn, 57, pleaded not guilty to murdering Russell Hill and Carol Clay

Prosecutors will outline their case against an airline captain accused of the double murder of Russell Hill and Carol Clay at a campsite in Victoria’s alpine region.

Greg Lynn, 57, pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and a jury has been empanelled in Melbourne’s supreme court ahead of trial openings on Friday.

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Jim Chalmers flags cost of living help for job seekers in federal budget

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‘There is more than one way to help people who are on income support,’ treasurer says when suggesting rebates and concessions could be boosted

The federal government is poised to expand rebates and concessions available to job seekers in next week’s federal budget, which is also expected to increase rent assistance.

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has confirmed that Tuesday’s budget will not increase the jobseeker payment but suggested it would boost concessions linked to social security payments, among a suite of measures designed to offer cost-of-living relief without pushing up inflation.

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Anthony Albanese faces internal revolt from inner-city Labor MPs over gas strategy

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Resource minister Madeleine King released party’s future gas strategy, which says new sources will be needed ‘to 2050 and beyond’

Anthony Albanese is facing an internal revolt with Labor backbenchers pushing back against the government’s support for new gas production.

Five inner-city MPs have criticised the government’s gas strategy, arguing it will overshadow progress on clean energy.

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Peter Dutton compares ‘river to the sea’ chants at pro-Palestinian protests to Hitler

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Opposition leader’s comments ‘a very bad faith’ reading of protestors’ chant, Jewish Council of Australia says

The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has compared chants at pro-Palestine university protests to the ideology of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, in comments labelled “deeply offensive” by a prominent Jewish group.

Tensions are brewing over pro-Palestine encampments at universities across Australia, with leading universities writing to the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, for legal advice on whether protesters’ chants were in breach of federal law.

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Sydney council’s ‘ridiculous’ same-sex parents book ban could be overturned as backlash grows

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NSW premier condemns western Sydney council’s ban on Holly Duhig’s children’s book as motion to rescind it lodged

The ban on same-sex parenting books at libraries in a western Sydney council area could be rescinded after widespread backlash and a warning from the premier, Chris Minns, that LGBTQ+ people were being used as a “political football”.

Four Labor councillors on Cumberland city council have lodged a rescission motion to overturn the ban, which they expect will be debated at the next council meeting on 15 May. The vote is expected to be tight.

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Faruqi v Hanson: Greens senator seeks to reopen racial discrimination case citing new evidence

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Sky News podcast casts doubt on One Nation leader’s claim she did not know Faruqi was a Muslim when she sent ‘piss off back to Pakistan’ tweet, court told

The Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi has applied to the federal court to reopen her racial discrimination case against Pauline Hanson, in a bid to air new evidence alleging that the One Nation leader knew Faruqi was a Muslim when she tweeted for her to “piss off back to Pakistan”.

Faruqi has alleged she had been racially discriminated against and vilified by Hanson under section 18c of the Racial Discrimination Act and last week the federal court spent four days hearing evidence from both senators.

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Nine’s AFR print edition to cease in WA after Seven’s press doubles production price

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Seven says decision purely commercial but Financial Review editor accuses rival company of ‘abuse of market power’

The print edition of Nine’s Australian Financial Review will no longer be available in Western Australia after the Seven-owned printing facility doubled the price of producing the newspaper.

Billionaire media mogul Kerry Stokes owns the only major newspaper printing press in the state and has contracts to print competitors’ products, including the financial daily for Nine as well as The Australian for News Corp.

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Greens senator applies for court case against One Nation leader to be re-opened – As it happened

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Government’s promised ‘future gas strategy’ will argue the fossil fuel is important part of transition to net zero emissions. This blog is now closed

NSW’s arts minister, John Graham, says a Sydney council has sent a “terrible message” by voting to ban same-sex parenting books, importing a “US culture war into our country”.

In case you missed it: Cumberland city council voted to place a blanket ban on same-sex parenting books from local libraries. Labor councillor Mohamad Hussein voted in favour of the motion, which passed six to five.

That’s a good thing. I think it’s a chance for the council to reconsider.

It’s a terrible message to send, to have this councillor importing this US culture war into our country and playing it out on the shelves of the local library. I think the community expectations are clear – the local councillors should be coming around to pick up their bin, not telling them what to read.

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Australia’s health watchdog warns patients are being overprescribed psychotropic medication

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Royal commissions into disability and aged care found ‘a fundamental problem’ with how the drugs were used

Glenda Parkin was 56 when she was diagnosed with younger-onset dementia, a rare visual variant of Alzheimer’s disease known as posterior cortical atrophy. She became functionally blind and her ability to perceive the world around her gradually deteriorated.

While the diagnosis forced Parkin to retire at the zenith of her career as a school principal in Perth, losing her abilities to read and write alongside other basic capabilities, she carried on a fulfilling life, according to her husband, Bronte, her carer for 10 years.

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Budget sneak-peek predicts higher wages and tax breaks – but no increase for Australians on jobseeker

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Government dampens hopes for an increase to jobseeker, despite pressure from economists, social justice groups and equality advocates

Australians are forecast to have more disposable income next year, according to budget predictions, with higher wages, tax cuts and lowering inflation.

But those on unemployment payments are unlikely to see any major change to their financial situations, with the government dampening expectations the base jobseeker rate will increase, despite growing pressure from economists, social justice groups and equality advocates.

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‘Huge’ proportion of mental health conditions in Australia found to be caused by childhood maltreatment

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Almost a quarter of the 1.8m cases of depression, anxiety and substance disorders could be prevented, researchers find

If child abuse and neglect did not exist, almost a quarter of the more than 1.8m cases of depression, anxiety and substance use disorders in Australia could be prevented.

The finding comes from the first Australian study to estimate the proportion of mental health conditions which are directly caused by childhood maltreatment and independent from other influences such as genetics and social environments.

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Boy, 10, arrested after alleged sexual assault of a tourist in Cairns

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Queensland police say four ‘juveniles’ were held after an Italian woman was attacked by the boy and then set upon by others when she called for help

Queensland police say a 10-year-old boy has been arrested after a woman was allegedly sexually assaulted in the state’s far north.

Det Insp Kevin Goan said a 23-year-old woman was walking in the Cairns CBD at about 10am on Wednesday when the 10-year-old allegedly sexually assaulted her.

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Victorian woman felt her voice was taken away before mother allegedly forced her to marry older man, court told

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Sakina Muhammad Jan accused of forcing daughter Ruqia Haidari to marry ‘someone she did not know’

A young woman felt like her voice and future were being taken away when her mother allegedly coerced her into marrying an older man from another state, a jury has been told.

Prosecutors have accused Sakina Muhammad Jan, from Victoria’s north, of forcing her 20-year-old daughter into marrying a man from Western Australia in 2019.

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Australia should pass bill to ban non-prescription vapes, Senate committee finds

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Recommendation comes after two days of hearings and nearly 300 submissions from health, education, pharmaceutical and other sectors

A bill to ban the manufacture, sale and advertising of vapes in Australia should be passed, a Senate committee has recommended, after evidence from public hearings and almost 300 submissions.

If passed by the Senate, the legislation will mean the only way vapes can legally be obtained is through a prescription from a GP or nurse practitioner. A vote is expected in June.

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Australia news live: Queensland poised to limit K’gari visits amid wave of dingo attacks; Electric Fields crash out of Eurovision semi

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The number of tourists on K’gari could soon be capped on the busiest days of the year. Follow today’s news live

CFMEU welcomes funding of 15,000 fee-free construction Tafe places in budget

The CFMEU has welcomed a funding boost for apprenticeships and traineeships in the upcoming budget.

This investment will mean more apprentices and trainees will get the training they need to build critical housing and infrastructure that Australia desperately needs …

There’s an often-overlooked distinction between apprenticeships and traineeships but thankfully the government recognises the importance of both – that’s critical to addressing construction skills gaps.

If they don’t mobilise this government into real action I just don’t know what will. Half of all threatened species becoming extinct is an intolerable outcome.

Report after report has shown the terrible decline of biodiversity in NSW, and the Ken Henry review of biodiversity laws gave the government very clear recommendations on how to slow and reverse this trend, but the government still hasn’t responded after seven months.

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Parents of murdered Perth brothers say world a ‘darker place’ after Mexico tragedy

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The parents of Callum and Jake Robinson travelled to Mexico to identify the bodies of their children

The parents of two Australian brothers murdered while on a surfing trip in Mexico say the world has become a darker place since their deaths.

Originally from Perth, Callum Robinson, 33, and his brother Jake, 30, were on a surfing trip with their American friend Carter Rhoad, 30, in the state of Baja California when they failed to check in to a pre-arranged accommodation near the city of Ensenada.

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Australia bans alleged Russian leader of global ransomware group LockBit

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Dmitry Khoroshev named as having a ‘senior role’ in group allegedly behind 18% of reported Australian ransomware attacks in 2022-23

An alleged leader of the international ransomware group LockBit has been hit with financial sanctions and banned from travelling to Australia.

The Australian government named Dmitry Yuryevich Khoroshev, a Russian citizen, as having a “senior leadership role” in a criminal group that supplied a global network of hackers with the tools and infrastructure to carry out online attacks.

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Methane emissions: Australian cattle industry suggests shift from net zero target to ‘climate neutral’ approach

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The US cattle industry adopted a ‘climate neutral’ goal in 2021 but scientists say that ‘misses the point’ in keeping global temperature rises below 1.5C

Cattle Australia is lobbying the red meat sector to ditch its net zero target in favour of a “climate neutral” goal that would require far more modest reductions in methane emissions.

The $75bn red meat industry, led by Meat and Livestock Australia, announced a target of reaching net zero emissions by 2030 seven years ago, in an attempt to maintain its social licence and drive investments in emissions reduction technology.

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