Drivers in capital cities faced increases of 12.4% in 2023 while the average driver in regional areas was hit with a 13.7% rise
Australian households are under increasing budget pressure when it comes to car travel as transport costs balloon to three times the inflation rate.
The typical household’s transport costs rose by about 13% in 2023, outpacing the inflation rate of 4.1%.
Continue reading...Pro-Palestinian protesters gathered in Sydney to demand a ceasefire while a separate pro-Israel rally against antisemitism took place in Adelaide
Pro-Palestinian protesters have taken to the streets after more than 100 Gazans were killed while trying to secure food as Australia flags more humanitarian aid.
About 120 Palestinians were killed as they tried to access humanitarian resources from an aid convoy, the local Hamas health authority said, attributing the deaths to Israeli gunfire.
Continue reading...Albanese also flagged concerns over ‘nature of behaviour’ in comments in lead-up to Saturday’s Dunkley byelection. Follow the day’s news live
PM congratulates new MP Jodie Belyea for ‘strong and positive campaign’
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, joined community leader Jodie Belyea at a polling station on Saturday, his 61st birthday, and praised the strong campaign she ran, AAP reports.
And I’m now going to be your strong local voice in Canberra.
Continue reading...Mike Burgess says actions of person who ‘sold out their country, party and former colleagues’ were legal because they predated 2018 espionage laws
The Asio boss, Mike Burgess, says an Australian who worked for foreign spies is no longer a politician and no longer a security threat “but this happened when they were a politician”.
Burgess has also stated that the unnamed former politician knew they were assisting a foreign intelligence service. “This person knew what they were doing,” he said.
Continue reading...Shadow immigration minister wants ‘better Australia’ but refuses to say what level of migration Coalition would pursue in government
The shadow immigration minister, Dan Tehan, has criticised a “big Australia” policy but refused to say what level of migration the Coalition would pursue in government, saying only that it wants “a better Australia”.
In an interview with the ABC’s Insiders program on Sunday, Tehan was repeatedly challenged to spell out the Coalition’s view on acceptable migration levels, but said: “I can tell you what it shouldn’t be. It shouldn’t be as high as what it is today.”
Continue reading...Revelation comes after inquest into 19-year-old’s death shown texts between journalist from newspaper and Zachary Rolfe
The family of Kumanjayi Walker complained to the media standards watchdog in 2022 about The Australian’s coverage of the Warlpiri man’s death, questioning why the journalist responsible had not disclosed her personal relationship with Zachary Rolfe in her articles.
But the Australian Press Council decided not to investigate the 2022 complaint, saying it considered it was “unlikely that a breach of [its] standards of practice has occurred”.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Duggan’s legal team continues to fight US request for extradition on charges of arms trafficking and money laundering
The spy agency Asio says it has been cleared by the intelligence watchdog of allegations of impropriety raised by the Australian citizen Daniel Duggan as he fights extradition to the US.
Duggan, a former US marines pilot accused of training Chinese pilots to land fighter jets on aircraft carriers, had complained to the inspector general of intelligence and security (IGIS) about Asio’s role in securing his return to Australia from China.
Continue reading...Police confirmed one man and seven women were charged after entering the parade route near Taylor Square on Saturday night
Eight pro-Palestinian protesters who allegedly attempted to disrupt Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras have been charged.
Police confirmed a 25-year-old man and seven women, aged between 29 and 42, were charged after entering the parade route near Taylor Square about 9.20pm on Saturday.
Continue reading...Liberal candidate Nathan Conroy wins swing of more than 3% but well short of the 6.3% required, leaving Belyea as the newest federal MP
Peter Dutton’s Liberal party has won a modest swing in the Dunkley byelection but fallen short in the Labor seat vacated by the death of the popular local MP Peta Murphy.
The Liberal candidate, Nathan Conroy, has currently received 47.5% of the two-party preferred vote, a swing of more than 3% to the opposition, well short of the 6.3% swing required to win the seat off the Albanese government.
Continue reading...It was only two weeks ago that the founder of Timor-Leste’s own pride march learned he and 10 others were coming to Australia
Natalino Guterres likens getting the chance to march down Oxford Street in pure queer pride to the feeling he had when he was 12 and Timor-Leste achieved independence after a brutal occupation.
“It’s really emotional for me,” he said. “It’s one of those moments when you’re really happy and get to look forward to having some momentum.”
Continue reading...Set up to honour the Australian national team cyclist killed by a car, the group was behind the successful A Metre Matters campaign
The Australian cycling safety advocacy body behind the successful A Metre Matters campaign is being wound up after federal government funding was discontinued.
The Amy Gillett Foundation was established in 2006 after the death of Gillett, a former Olympic rower who had switched to track and road cycling. The 29-year-old was training with the Australian national team in Germany when she and her teammates were hit by a car.
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Queensland government pledges over $40m to fertility treatments
More women and girls suffering complex medical conditions like cancer will have access to cheaper reproductive care after Queensland became the latest state to announce public funding for fertility treatments, AAP has reported.
When a significant health issue, such as cancer, impacts a person’s fertility, being able to afford access to fertility services should be the last thing Queenslanders need to worry about.
Longstanding and deep-rooted … abuse, racism and homophobia rampant within the NSW police.
About 8.30pm, the group moved onto the roadway, blocking all vehicle traffic at the intersection of Oxford and Flinders Street. With the assistance of additional police, the crowd were directed to move onto the footpath. Those who did not comply with police directions were physically removed.
The crowd later dispersed, with part of the group attending the Sydney Police Centre on Goulburn and Riley Streets, where they continued to protest.”
There were no reports of any property being damaged, person being injured, or any arrests being made.
If police claims are correct, a gun appears to have been ‘largely unaccounted for’ the weekend before alleged murders of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies, Vincent Hurley says
A former senior detective has raised concerns about an apparent “breakdown” in processes that may have allowed a force-issued firearm to be used in the alleged murder of two young men in Sydney.
Vincent Hurley, whose New South Wales police career spanned almost three decades, said he was troubled by police claims, made in the course of the ongoing homicide investigation, that suggested a Glock had been “largely unaccounted for” before being used to allegedly kill Jesse Baird and Luke Davies.
Continue reading...Exclusive: The former PM has been enlisted to front a social media campaign to help Labor hold the Victorian seat
Julia Gillard has been enlisted to help boost Labor’s chances in the Dunkley byelection, with Australia’s first female prime minister fronting a social media push aimed squarely at women in the Melbourne seat.
In a sign of Labor’s effort to shore up every last vote in what is expected by both major parties to be a close-run contest, Gillard’s election-eve endorsement praises Jodie Belyea as a “strong local voice”.
Continue reading...The recording forms part of the territory’s appeal of over $1m in compensation awarded to four teenage inmates
Disturbing footage of teenagers being handcuffed and hosed down after being teargassed at the notorious Don Dale Detention Centre has been seen as evidence in an Northern Territory supreme court case.
The vision, which will not be released to media, is part of the NT government’s appeal over nearly $1m compensation awarded last year to four teenagers who were unlawfully teargassed at Don Dale detention centre in 2014.
Continue reading...Letter aims to bring public anger over 30,000 deaths of Palestinians in Gaza into heart of parliaments
More than 200 MPs from 12 countries have committed themselves to trying to persuade their governments to impose a ban on arms sales to Israel, arguing they will not be complicit in “Israel’s grave violation of international law” in its assault on Gaza.
The letter, organised by Progressive International, a network of socialist MPs and activists focused on international justice, is seen as the best practical measure possible to bring public anger over the 30,000 deaths of Palestinians in Gaza into the heart of parliaments, where calls for an immediate unconditional ceasefire have so far fallen on deaf ears or been rejected by national governments.
Continue reading...Government says regulator is looking into the disruption which prevented more than 100 calls being transferred to emergency services
Telstra has apologised for a technical issue that meant Australians were not able to speak to trained triple zero call takers for more than an hour.
The telecommunications giant issued the apology to people who were unable to make phone calls to triple zero for more than an hour on Friday morning.
Continue reading...Lehrmann’s lawyers also admit client’s evidence is ‘unsatisfactory’ but say it would be overstating it to say he is a ‘compulsive liar’
If the court finds that sexual intercourse took place between Bruce Lehrmann and Brittany Higgins it will also have to find she was “so intoxicated as to be unable to consent” and that evidence is not available, Lehrmann’s lawyers have told the federal court.
“The evidence simply does not permit a positive finding of fact that Ms Higgins’ intoxication was, at any relevant time, such that she could not consent to sexual activity,” new submissions filed in Lehrmann’s defamation case against Channel Ten and Lisa Wilkinson said.
Continue reading...Publishers informed on Friday Meta would not enter new deals when current contracts expire and Facebook news tab would shut down in April
Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, Meta, has set itself on a collision course with the Albanese government after announcing it will stop paying Australian publishers for news, and plans to shut down its news tab in Australia and the United States.
Meta informed publishers on Friday that it would not enter new deals when the current contracts expire this year.
Continue reading...Ticketbud says money was sent directly to organisers Turning Point Australia, but it says money is only received after events are completed
A ticketing company has denied claims by the organiser of Donald Trump Jr’s postponed Australian tour that it is responsible for processing refunds, arguing Turning Point Australia received the money.
The eldest son of the former US president and Republican frontrunner for the 2024 US presidential election was due to speak at events in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne in July last year, but the event was initially postponed to September amid claims of visa difficulties.
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