Category Archives: Australia news

Security guard dies and charge laid after alleged punch to head outside Sydney pub

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Police said the guard was allegedly punched by a patron who had been asked to leave the venue

A security guard has died after he was allegedly punched in the head during an altercation at a hotel in Sydney’s south, and a man charged with assault occasioning death.

Emergency services were called to a licensed premises on East Parade in Sutherland about 2am on Sunday.

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‘Grave concern’ over Wednesday heat spike in Victoria after six homes destroyed in bushfires

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Firefighters continue to battle blazes as they brace for temperatures to exceed 40C in western parts of the state this week

Six homes have been destroyed by bushfires in Victoria, as authorities issue a warning of “grave concern” for fire danger in the state on Wednesday.

On Sunday morning, Victoria’s emergency services minister, Jaclyn Symes, announced that after 228 impact assessments were carried out following fires in western Victoria, six residential homes were deemed to have been destroyed.

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Lowering cost of higher education critical to meeting Australia’s skills shortage, report warns

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Universities accord also urges government to dramatically scale up access to higher education for disadvantaged groups

Access to higher education among disadvantaged Australians must be dramatically scaled up and the financial burden of studying eased if the country is to meet acute skills shortages, a major report has found.

The highly anticipated universities accord final report, being released by the education minister, Jason Clare, on Sunday, was expected to lay out the blueprint for the tertiary sector over the coming decades.

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Sydney asbestos crisis: EPA ‘following up’ on whether second mulch supplier is involved

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Agency says an unnamed supplier may have provided contaminated mulch at Cranebrook and Bardia

A possible second supplier of asbestos-contaminated mulch is being investigated by the New South Wales Environment Protection Authority, as the number of contaminated sites rises to 61.

The environment watchdog said on Saturday it was “following up on a possible second supplier” that may have provided asbestos-contaminated mulch to at least two sites where the substance has been detected. The sites, both in western Sydney, were Cranebrook High School and Mont Saint Quentin Oval in Bardia.

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Victoria fires: at least three homes destroyed as authorities warn towns still under threat

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Warnings remained in place for a group of communities west of Ballarat as crews work to get blaze under control

At least three homes have been confirmed destroyed by a bushfire in western Victoria, with fire authorities warning that some towns remain under threat.

There were fears that as many as 10 houses may have been claimed by the fire burning west of Ballarat, and “watch and act” warnings remain in place for Bayindeen, Chute, Elmhurst, Mount Lonarch and surrounds, Emergency Management Victoria (EMV) said.

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Four people dead after ute rollover in northern NSW

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Police say three men and a woman died after vehicle left the road in Wardell, near Ballina, on Saturday morning

Four people have died after the ute they were travelling in left the road and rolled in northern New South Wales, in another horror smash amid a disastrous period on the state’s roads.

Police were called to Back Channel road in Wardell, near Ballina, at about 5.45am on Saturday after reports of a crash. Officers found that three men and a woman had died at the scene.

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Politicians standing unopposed in local Queensland elections bad for democracy, expert says

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More prematurely victorious candidates in 2024 – 15 mayors and 46 councillors – than any time since 2012

A month out from election day, Queensland’s longest-serving mayor is confident he’ll get another four years in the top job.

That’s because John Wharton is the only candidate. By the end of his next term he’ll have been Richmond mayor for 31 years.

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‘Incredible failure’: KPMG rejects claims it assessed ‘the wrong company’ before $423m payment to Paladin

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Exclusive: Firm’s denial comes after weeks of intense criticism, including accusations that it misled parliament

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Consultancy firm KPMG Australia has rejected claims it conducted due diligence on “the wrong company” before the federal government gave nearly half a billion dollars to a controversial company with no track record.

The firm’s objection to comments by a member of a Senate inquiry examining its conduct come after weeks of intense criticism and accusations it repeatedly misled parliament over its use of so-called power maps, which identify influential decision makers within departments.

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Ukraine appeals to Australia and France for more ammunition as it marks two years since Russian invasion

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Ukrainian ambassador to Australia also urges west not to succumb to ‘fatigue’ in its support for Ukraine

Ukraine is appealing to Australia and France to deliver more ammunition to the country as it marks the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

The Ukrainian ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, also urged western leaders not to succumb to “fatigue” over the protracted war, saying: “I think the only country which can feel fatigue can be Ukraine, actually, because we are the ones who are being killed.”

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‘Doesn’t my TV already do this?’: Is Hubbl a Foxtel thought-bubble or worth the trouble?

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Surprisingly, Foxtel’s Hubbl makes a pretty good case for itself even if it doesn’t completely pass the sniff test

Foxtel is set to kickstart a massive marketing blitz to promote its new streaming TV hardware Hubbl. As viewers watch the TV ads featuring Hamish Blake dancing across their screens dressed up as a Hubbl set-top box, many will be asking a not-unreasonable question: “Doesn’t my TV already do this?”

Most Australians now have a smart TV. Australia got serious about streaming TV back in 2015 with the launch of Stan and Netflix. With the general lifespan of a TV being somewhere between 7 and 15 years, it means most of Australia by now have smart TVs or have equipped their TV with a plug-in device to make their TV “smart”.

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Nationals deputy leader Perin Davey could face official complaint over apparent slurring in Senate

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Exclusive: Davey says she is aware complaint may be lodged, which could lead to her party membership being cancelled or suspended if upheld

The Nationals’ deputy leader, Perin Davey, is facing the prospect of an official complaint from a party member over an incident in which she slurred and stumbled over words in a Senate hearing.

According to the NSW Nationals’ constitution, complaints that a member’s “general behaviour, public utterances, or writings, have been such as to bring or attempt to bring discredit or undue embarrassment to the party” can be grounds to cancel or suspend their membership.

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Australia news live: NSW police officer charged with murder after disappearance of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies

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Former celebrity blogger expected to face court. Follow updates live

What will happen if there’s a storm during today’s Taylor Swift concert?

With a thunderstorm forecast at Sydney Olympic Park this evening, many are asking what this means for the Eras tour?

The show will play, rain or shine. The only exception would be severe weather, which could impact the safety of artists and patrons. Such a decision would be made by NSW Police, the event promoters and Venues NSW staff.

Please follow venue screens and staff instructions in these circumstances.

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Mick Gooda says voice referendum failed because of ‘crash through or crash’ strategy

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Indigenous leader says yes campaign lacked necessary bipartisanship and federal reform for Aboriginal people has ‘come to a complete standstill’

Indigenous leader Mick Gooda will blame a flawed “crash through or crash” strategy for the failed voice to parliament referendum, arguing in a speech that the result has seen federal reforms for Aboriginal people “come to a complete standstill”.

In a speech to be delivered at the National Aboriginal Press Club in Brisbane on Friday, the co-chair of the Queensland Interim Truth and Treaty Body, planned to say the yes campaign’s strategy lacked necessary bipartisanship or detail, while criticising the negative tactics used by the no campaign, which he believed received funding from people or groups in the US.

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Jesse Baird and Luke Davies disappearance: NSW police officer Beau Lamarre arrested amid search for missing couple

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Lamarre, 28, turned himself to NSW police on Friday morning and is assisting with inquiries at Waverley police station

A serving police officer has been arrested as New South Wales homicide detectives continue investigating the disappearance of the former Channel Ten presenter Jesse Baird and his Qantas flight attendant partner, Luke Davies.

Const Beau Lamarre – a former celebrity blogger – handed himself in at Bondi police station about 10.30am on Friday. No charges have been laid.

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Taylor Swift Sydney Eras concert: superstar wows 81,000 crowd after huge storm delays the start

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Thunderstorm prompts a short evacuation and axing of support act Sabrina Carpenter, but Swifties still treated to three-hour show from their idol

Taylor Swift fans were briefly evacuated from the floor and lower bowl of Accor Stadium in Sydney after a huge storm with nearby lightning strikes hit the area less than an hour before the show was to begin on Friday evening.

Accor Stadium posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, the start time had been delayed, and asked fans in the venue to stay undercover until “further notice”.

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Victoria bushfires: homes and sheds lost as blaze heads towards Elmhurst in state’s west

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Thousands of residents from almost 30 communities near Ballarat told to ‘leave now’

Victoria’s premier says homes have been lost to a huge bushfire in the state’s west, after a “tough night” in which two fire trucks broke down.

Emergency warnings remained in place for about 30 communities west of Ballarat on Friday morning, including in Amphitheatre, Elmhurst and Mount Cole, where residents have been told to “leave immediately” before “conditions become too dangerous”.

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Samantha Murphy: police suspect ‘one or more parties’ involved as targeted search begins for missing Ballarat woman

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New mobile data leads police to comb Mount Clear area for clues nearly three weeks after 51-year-old was last seen

Victoria police suspect “one or more parties” were involved in the disappearance of Samantha Murphy nearly three weeks ago, saying it was “very doubtful” she was still alive amid a renewed ground search.

Mobile phone data has provided a new lead in the search for Murphy, with a previously examined area the subject of a targeted hunt for clues as to her disappearance.

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Victoria fires: thousands urged to evacuate as out-of-control blaze bears down

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An emergency warning has been issued for 28 communities west of Ballarat, with conditions not expected to ease until about midnight

Thousands of people in 28 communities are being urged to evacuate a large fire zone as an out-of-control blaze bears down on them in Victoria.

An emergency warning has been issued for the communities west of Ballarat with concerns about a wind change is expected to sweep the area between 6pm and 7.30pm.

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TV presenter Jesse Baird and partner Luke Davies missing after blood found at home and in skip bin

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NSW police searching for former Channel 10 presenter, 26, and Qantas flight attendant, 29, after blood discovered at Paddington property and on personal possessions in Cronulla bin

New South Wales police are investigating the suspicious disappearance of the former Network Ten presenter Jesse Baird and his partner, Luke Davies, from Sydney’s eastern suburbs after bloody items were found in a skip bin.

Police said Baird, 26, and 29-year-old Davies, who works as a flight attendant for Qantas, were last seen in Paddington on Monday.

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Second accidental data leak in four months ‘regrettable’, Australian finance department says

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Incident comes as data shows government sector breaches mostly caused by human error, not criminal acts

The finance department has accidentally shared confidential commercial information for the second time as new data reveals the number of human errors behind government data breaches.

The department has confirmed that last week it emailed 236 suppliers, and that the email included “embedded information with some third-party confidential information”.

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