Category Archives: Australia news

Shabana Mahmood to host Five Eyes meeting on people-smuggling

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New home secretary will be joined in London by counterparts from US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand

Shabana Mahmood, the new home secretary, will host a meeting of the Five Eyes security alliance to discuss how to stop people-smuggling, as the number of migrants arriving in the UK after crossing the channel topped 30,000 in record time on Sunday.

Mahmood is to be joined in London by Kristi Noem, the US secretary of state for homeland security, as well as interior ministers from Australia, Canada and New Zealand – the other member countries of the intelligence-sharing pact.

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Minns’s $140m great koala national park will ‘obliterate’ regional towns, Coalition claims

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Labor’s koala strategy doesn’t go far enough, Coalition says, but environmentalists hail park a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ decision

The long-awaited great koala national park in the north of New South Wales, celebrated by wildlife groups, has drawn a mixed reaction from the state’s Coalition.

The opposition leader, Mark Speakman has hedged his party’s support, saying while he “supports the ambition of protecting koalas”, he was concerned about job losses and the cost of the park.

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Mushroom murderer Erin Patterson to learn fate at sentence hearing in Victorian supreme court

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Justice Christopher Beale will sentence the triple murderer on Monday, with the hearing to be broadcast live in a state first

Victoria’s supreme court will hand down the triple-murderer Erin Patterson’s sentence on Monday morning, with the hearing to be broadcast live in a historic first for the state.

The state’s supreme court will allow a television camera inside the courtroom to broadcast the sentencing hearing – with a 10 second delay – for the first time.

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Two boys, 12 and 15, killed in Melbourne attacked by eight knife and machete wielding suspects

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Fatal stabbing attack on two boys in Cobblebank had ‘the hallmarks of a youth gang crime’, Victoria police say

A fatal stabbing attack on two boys in Melbourne by eight masked attackers armed with machetes and long edged weapons had “the hallmarks of a youth gang crime”, Victoria police say.

A 12-year-old and 15-year-old Dau Akueng were found fatally stabbed on separate streets in Cobblebank, in the city’s west, on Saturday night.

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China’s military follows Australian and Canadian warships in Taiwan Strait accusing them of ‘provocation’

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Strait is considered an international waterway by countries including the US, Canada, Britain and Taiwan

Australian and Canadian warships sailing through the sensitive Taiwan Strait have been followed and warned by China’s military, with Beijing describing the incident as a provocation.

The People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theatre Command said the Australian guided-missile destroyer Brisbane and the Canadian frigate Ville de Quebec were engaged in “trouble-making and provocation”.

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WA museum tells staff ‘almost all of us are guilty’ of burning fossil fuels in email defending Woodside partnership

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Exclusive: Climate advocates reject CEO’s claim he is ‘not qualified’ to comment on risks of gas firm’s plan to extend production to 2070

The head of the Western Australian Museum has told staff that burning fossil fuels is something “almost all of us are guilty of in one way or another” in an email defending the institution’s renewed research partnership with Woodside.

The museum’s chief executive, Alec Coles, sent the email to staff before a Woodside-sponsored August open day at the Maritime Museum – one of WA Museum’s seven locations. It came amid public criticism of the extension of the “longstanding collaboration”, in which the gas company supports the museum’s biodiversity research along the WA coastline.

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NSW locks in great koala national park and brings in immediate ban on logging

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Minns government to create one of the largest national parks in the state as forest advocates welcome ‘historic’ victory

The Minns government has confirmed its long-awaited great koala national park, announcing it will add 176,000 hectares of forest to existing reserves in mid-north New South Wales to create one of the largest national parks in the state and protect more than 12,000 koalas.

The premier, Chris Minns, and environment minister, Penny Sharpe, said the government would put an immediate moratorium on logging within the park’s boundaries and roll out a jobkeeper style support package for workers at affected timber mills in the region.

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Loss of koala habitat shows ‘total failure’ of nature laws, conservationists say

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More habitat has been given up legally in 2025 so far than any other year since the animals were listed as threatened, analysis shows

More clearing of koala habitat has been approved under Australia’s nature laws in 2025 so far than in any other year since the marsupial was listed as a threatened species, according to an analysis by the Australian Conservation Foundation.

The destruction of 3,958 ha of bush approved across eight projects, including a coalmine in Queensland, equates to about four Sydney airports’ worth of clearing.

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Neo-Nazis have occupied the steps of Victoria’s parliament twice in two years. Are protest laws to blame?

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Calls for tougher ‘move-on’ laws overlook the fact that police already have considerable powers in Victoria

As neo-Nazis occupied the steps of Victoria’s parliament for the second time in as many years, many are asking the question: how has this happened again – and what can be done to prevent it?

On Sunday, neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell, the leader of the National Socialist Network (NSN), mounted the steps of the building, stood behind a podium draped with an Australian flag and delivered what can only be described as the keynote speech at the city’s March for Australia rally. Neo-Nazis were also involved in rallies in other states, although statements on the March for Australia Facebook page distanced the events from white supremacists.

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Australia news live: Alan Joyce secures final $3.8m bonus two years after leaving Qantas; neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell refused bail

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Former chief executive left the airline after a series of corporate decisions sparked a reputational crisis. Follow today’s news live

Coalition of the willing meeting a ‘positive sign’ for Ukraine, former ambassador says

The former Australian ambassador to Russia, Peter Tesch, has appeared on ABC News Breakfast after Anthony Albanese joined a virtual meeting with world leaders signed up to the coalition of the willing for Ukraine on Thursday night.

The issue is that we are still no closer to a credible and durable peace settlement, because Moscow keeps walking both sides of the street, and that is provoking a degree of frustration. But in the absence of serious, additional pressure upon Moscow, it’s difficult to see a near-term solution here - notwithstanding Ukraine’s clear willingness to engage seriously in discussions.

And importantly, although the details are vague … President Trump at least remains engaged in that dialogue and that’s very important.

Our case for a 35% pay increase over three years will begin in the NSW Industrial Relations Commission later this month. As part of this case, which is one of the biggest industrial cases this state has seen, we will present evidence around the gendered undervaluation of nurses and midwives’ work and the work value changes our professions have seen over the past 16 years.

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This old railway yard is for sale. Could new solar-powered trains be built there?

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Push for NSW locomotive workshop to be returned to government hands and used to retrofit diesel trains and help meet 50% Australian-made quotas

One of New South Wales’ few remaining large railway yards has been put up for sale, with locals pushing for state and federal government intervention to reinvigorate the rail industry.

Lithgow’s locomotive workshop, owned by Pacific National and reported to have an asking price of $35m, includes maintenance pit bays and outbuildings. It was ceded to the freight operator in 2003 when the state privatised its freight services and has been little-used since.

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Two women killed while trying to help injured kangaroo on Melbourne freeway

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Police say one 30-year-old died at the scene on the Hume Highway and the other, also 30, was airlifted to hospital but died soon afterwards

Two women have died after being hit by a car while trying to help an injured kangaroo on a busy freeway in Melbourne’s north.

The deaths have prompted warnings about the dangers of stopping to help wildlife.

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Decision to close Meanjin criticised as act of ‘utter cultural vandalism’

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Shutting long-running literary journal, which published emerging writers as well as the cream of Australia’s literary talent, described as ‘enormous loss’

One of Australia’s longest running literary journals has been scrapped, in what has been described as an act of “utter cultural vandalism” on the part of the University of Melbourne.

After 85 years, Meanjin, run by the university’s subsidiary Melbourne University Publishing (MUP), will publish its last edition in December. Although the journal’s editor, Esther Anatolitis, worked her last day at Meanjin on Thursday, the spring and summer quarterly editions of the journal are already at the printers.

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People banished to Nauru by Australia face hostile reception as $2.5bn cost of deal revealed

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Home affairs department reveals just-signed transfer deal, worth $408m upfront to Nauru, forecast to cost Australia $2.5bn over 30 years

The group of noncitizens set to be banished by Australia to Nauru for 30 years face a potentially hostile reception because they have been described as “violent” and “appalling” by the Australian government.

The forcible transfer of the so-called NZYQ group – and potentially thousands more under legislation currently before parliament – to the tiny island is being quietly resented by Nauruans, sources on the island have told Guardian Australia.

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Neo-nazi Thomas Sewell will continue to commit violent offences that could lead to death, police tell court

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Sewell, who has been charged over alleged attack on Indigenous protest site, described in court as having ‘at his disposal a large group of followers’

Neo-nazi Thomas Sewell – who allegedly led an attack on a First Nations encampment in Melbourne over the weekend – will continue to commit violent offences that could lead to death, a court heard.

Sewell, 32, applied to be freed on bail on Wednesday after being charged over an alleged attack on Melbourne’s Camp Sovereignty on Sunday.

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Four Chinese carmakers enter Australian top 10 for first time, while Tesla sales slump

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BYD overtakes Mitsubishi after nearly quadrupling sales in past year, according to official figures, as GWM, MG and Chery also surge

Australians bought more than 20,000 Chinese-made vehicles in August, putting four Chinese brands into the top 10 for the first time, while Tesla sales have slumped by more than a third.

BYD came in sixth for the month, overtaking Mitsubishi, after its sales nearly quadrupled compared with August 2024, while GWM, MG and Chery each outsold Isuzu Ute in the month to round out the top 10.

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Mining magnate Andrew Forrest’s Minderoo charity makes undisclosed donation to the Australia Institute

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Exclusive: The progressive thinktank, which has championed a ‘real zero’ emissions policy, says it protects privacy of donors to avoid them being targeted

Andrew Forrest’s charity has made an undisclosed donation to the Australia Institute, raising transparency concerns about the funding of influential advocacy groups.

The donation to the progressive thinktank, which has been confirmed by several sources familiar with the deal but not authorised to comment, highlights differing disclosure standards across the research and advocacy sector.

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There are just 150 of these creamy-flowered shrubs left in the world – and a Victorian fire break could destroy dozens

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More than 40 round-leaf pomaderris discovered by environmental community group inside the area earmarked for fire break in July

A mere 150 round-leaf pomaderris were thought left in the world in 2021 and now a planned firebreak in Victoria could destroy dozens of the plants.

The critically endangered shrub, which bursts into cascades of creamy flowers, is known to exist in only a handful of locations in central Victoria’s hill country.

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Up to 80,000 people in Australia may be affected by ‘sledgehammer’ powers to deport noncitizens to Nauru, lawyers warn

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Greens senator David Shoebridge accuses Tony Burke of ‘doing his Peter Dutton impression, dog-whistling and punching down on migrants’

Up to 80,000 people in Australia may be affected by the Albanese government’s proposed powers to strip basic legal protections from the noncitizens it plans to deport to Nauru, refugee lawyers warn.

The proposed federal powers, revealed last Wednesday, are expected to pass parliament this week with the Coalition’s support at a snap two-hour committee hearing scheduled for Wednesday night.

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Neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell arrested outside Melbourne court over alleged attack on Indigenous protest site

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Victoria police confirm arrest hours after the neo-Nazi confronted Victorian premier Jacinta Allan at a press conference

Neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell has been arrested outside a Melbourne court over an alleged attack on Camp Sovereignty, a sacred Aboriginal burial ground in Kings Domain and longstanding protest site on Sunday.

Victoria police have confirmed detectives from the Melbourne crime investigation unit arrested Sewell, 32, and two associates – a 23-year-old man from Mooroolbark and a 20-year-old man from Ardeer – outside Melbourne’s magistrates court about 3.20pm on Tuesday.

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