Labor’s Rebecca White is hoping to unseat Australia’s only remaining Liberal government and return her party to power after 10 years in opposition
Australia’s last Liberal government is hoping they can defy opinion polls and be returned in majority, as polls close in Tasmania.
The state Liberals are chasing a record fourth successive term, while Labor is aiming to end a decade in opposition.
Continue reading...Police allege the accused dumped an injured man on a street in Melonba and left him to die
A man will face court accused of murder following a pre-arranged fight after which he allegedly dumped his opponent in a western Sydney street and left him to die.
Emergency services were called to Georgina Crescent in Melonba about 8.45pm on Friday after reports a man had been found and was likely deceased.
Continue reading...In demonstration of Australia’s air combat capability, Grant Shapps travels in RAAF Super Hornet after meeting with Anthony Albanese
The UK defence secretary, Grant Shapps, has caught a ride in the back seat of an Australian air force fighter jet after meeting with the prime minister, Anthony Albanese.
The visiting dignitary met with Albanese in Canberra on Thursday before being flown to Adelaide in a FA-18 Super Hornet, according to a report by the ABC.
Continue reading...Concerns raised after former Cherish Life vice-president Alan Baker elected chair of party’s Griffith divisional council
A prominent anti-abortion campaigner has won control of a Brisbane division of the Liberal National party, prompting alarm among moderates that “fringe infiltrators” were attempting to increase their influence as polls point to a state election win.
Alan Baker, a former vice-president of the anti-abortion lobby group Cherish Life, was elected chair of the LNP’s Griffith federal divisional council (FDC) by two votes on Thursday night.
Continue reading...Independent says allegations she raised in Senate in June are yet to be dealt with by parliament’s HR body
Lidia Thorpe has expressed frustration with the slow progress on a new watchdog to hold politicians accountable for bad behaviour, as the federal government prepares plans for a workplace body with the power to punish parliamentarians for misconduct.
The independent parliamentary standards commission, a key recommendation for fixing the culture in Parliament House, will be given the power to investigate and sanction MPs and senators and is expected to be up and running later this year if it gains multipartisan support.
Continue reading...New research from Australian scientists shows strong evidence even mid-life stable stars like our sun have engulfed entire planets
Planet-eating stars are more abundant in the universe than previously thought, an Australian-led study has found.
The study, by the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in Three Dimensions (Astro 3D), looked at “co-natal” or twin stars, born from the same molecular cloud, where one had “eaten” a planet and the other had not.
Continue reading...Magistrate clears couple of other domestic violence allegations in hearing at Sydney’s Downing Centre
William Tyrrell’s former foster parents have been found guilty of intimidating another child in their care, but cleared of a slew of other domestic violence allegations.
In a hearing at Sydney’s Downing Centre on Friday, magistrate Susan McIntyre found the former foster mother – who cannot be legally identified – guilty of intimidating the child on two occasions, including threatening to slap them.
Continue reading...UK’s foreign secretary is in Australia alongside defence secretary Grant Shapps for high-level talks with Richard Marles and Penny Wong
The UK foreign secretary, David Cameron, has suggested the Aukus pact and Nato alliance must get into “the best possible shape” to increase their chances of surviving Donald Trump’s potential return to the White House.
Speaking after high-level talks in Australia, Cameron was careful to avoid criticising the former US president and presumptive Republican nominee for 2024, saying it was “up to America who they choose as their president”.
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As part of the latest Aukus developments, Australia will send A$4.6bn to the UK to clear bottlenecks at the Rolls-Royce nuclear reactor production line.
Richard Marles was asked why it costs so much, and why this component needs to be done in the UK. He told ABC News Breakfast:
We made clear a year ago that we wouldn’t be building the nuclear reactors in Australia. They will be built by Rolls Royce at its facility in Derby in the UK and once the sealed reactors are built, they will be taken here to the Osborne Naval ship yard and placed in the submarines which the rest of which will be built here at Osborne.
Building nuclear reactors is difficult to do and in order for this to play out, that facility in Derby, which is building nuclear reactors for Britain’s navy, that needs to be expanded and that is what this contribution is for.
Continue reading...Keli Lane, convicted of murdering newborn daughter in 1996, refused parole because she has not helped police find Tegan’s body
A woman convicted of killing her baby daughter in one of Australia’s most notorious criminal cases has been denied parole after more than 13 years behind bars.
Keli Lane, 48, was convicted in 2010 after a jury found her guilty of murdering her newborn daughter Tegan in September 1996.
Continue reading...Magistrate refuses application for costs after 70-year-old cleared of serious indictable offence over not reporting his father’s abuse to police
The Hillsong founder Brian Houston has failed in a bid to have his legal costs covered after unsuccessfully being prosecuted for allegedly covering up his late father’s child abuse.
The 70-year-old was cleared in August of concealing a serious indictable offence for not reporting his father Frank Houston’s abuse of Brett Sengstock to police.
Continue reading...Western Australia police appeal for information after second death in race after British ultra-endurance cyclist Mike Hall was hit and killed near Canberra in 2017
Tragedy has again befallen the Indian Pacific Wheel Race, with a cyclist dead and another in a serious condition in hospital after separate incidents along Western Australia’s remote Eyre Highway on Thursday morning.
The race sees participants ride solo and unsupported from Fremantle in Western Australia to the Sydney Opera House, covering 5,500 kilometres. It builds on a rich history of riders traversing Australia as early as the 1890s – considered to be the first “Overlanders”.
Continue reading...Reserve Bank says households are generally weathering the record run of interest rate rises but 5% of owner occupiers are in a dire financial position
About one in 20 mortgage holders are spending more than they earn because of higher interest rates and cost-of-living increases but that share should halve by the end of 2025, the Reserve Bank said in its latest financial stability review.
The semi-annual report, released on Friday, was generally upbeat about the financial health of households and businesses, finding “nearly all borrowers continue to service their debts on schedule” even though conditions are likely to remain challenging for many this year.
Continue reading...LGBTQ groups welcome legislation passed after marathon overnight sitting, but critics line up to warn bail laws will put more children in jail
Gay conversion practices have been outlawed in New South Wales and it will be harder for teenage offenders to get bail after two laws passed the state’s parliament overnight.
The laws will, separately, ban conversion practices such as religious “straight camps” that attempt to change someone’s sexual orientation and introduce an extra test for some young people seeking bail.
Continue reading...McArthur River at community of Borroloola predicted to peak at 18 metres, three metres higher than previous 2001 record
More than 100 people have been evacuated from the remote Northern Territory community of Borroloola as it faces dangerous record flooding just days after it was lashed by Tropical Cyclone Megan.
The McArthur River at the township was forecast to peak at 18 metres by Thursday afternoon, three metres higher than the previous 2001 flood record, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
Continue reading...Law Reform Commission says schools shouldn’t be allowed to discriminate against staff and students on basis of sexuality, gender identity or relationship status
Blanket exemptions allowing religious schools to discriminate against staff and students on the basis of sexuality and gender identity should be repealed, a key report to the federal government has recommended.
The long-awaited report from the Australian Law Reform Commission, released on Thursday, says the institutions should be allowed to preference staff in line with their beliefs so long as its proportionate and “reasonably necessary” to maintaining a community of faith and isn’t unlawful under existing discrimination laws.
Continue reading...David Crisafulli’s stance means the multi-billion dollar Victoria Park plan recommended by Graham Quirk on Monday is dead
Queensland’s 2032 Olympics will not be held in a brand-new stadium, with both major parties now ruling out the Victoria Park and Gabba rebuild options.
The opposition leader, David Crisafulli, broke his four-day silence on Thursday, promising there will be no new stadium. The LNP leader also ruled out cancelling the Games.
Continue reading...The man has pleaded not guilty to ‘exit trafficking’ after taking his wife to Sudan in 2014
While on a trip back to Sudan, a mother left her children with her husband to go and cook for them. But when she returned from her parents’ place, her husband and two young kids had vanished, a Melbourne court has heard.
Her husband faced the first day of a trial by jury in Melbourne’s county court on Thursday, accused of deceiving his wife into leaving Australia after withdrawing sponsorship for her visa.
Continue reading...Sydney Afternoons’ host told listeners he will need surgery to remove his entire oesophagus and is taking several months off
Broadcaster and saxophonist James Valentine has revealed live on ABC radio that he has oesophageal cancer and is taking several months off to undergo surgery.
The host of Sydney’s Afternoons program, Valentine told his listeners the cancer was discovered after he “choked and retched” while eating curry at a party in December.
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Expect to hear a lot more on this today:
Southern Australia could face gas shortages during “extreme peak demand days” from 2025 as Bass Strait supplies dwindle, the Australian Energy Market Operator has said.
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