Sydney asbestos crisis: largest EPA probe ever with hundreds of sites potentially contaminated

More than 130 people working on criminal investigation into mulch supplied by Greenlife Resource Recovery. The company denies any wrongdoing

An investigation into the growing New South Wales asbestos scandal has become the state environmental watchdog’s biggest-ever probe with hundreds of sites potentially contaminated including parks, schools, train stations and suburban back yards.

A surge workforce of public servants and firefighters will assist the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) as it expands its criminal investigation into mulch found to contain asbestos across Sydney and regional NSW.

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BoM issues cyclone alert for NT and Queensland; NSW Health warns of high-dose MDMA tabs in circulation – as it happend

Heavy rainfall is expected to hit the Gulf of Carpentaria coast with a risk of a possible tropical cyclone from Thursday. This blog is now closed

Not everyone voted to bring Julian Assange back to Australia

Looking at the Hansard, it seems there were 11 MPs who abstained from voting on the Assange motion:

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Nearly 100,000 NSW homes not being used for long-term housing, figures show

Housing review finds 33,000 homes, including Stayz and Airbnb listings, are registered as non-hosted short-term rentals

Almost 100,000 apartments and houses across New South Wales are not being used for long-term housing, according to state government modelling.

The state government estimates 15,000 homes are vacant year-round, 45,000 are used as holiday homes and more than 33,000 are registered as non-hosted short-term properties, according to the data released as part of the Minns government’s review of short-term rentals including Stayz and Airbnb.

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Push to weatherproof Australia’s electricity grid after storm leads to mass power outages in Victoria

State’s energy minister calls for national approach to energy system resilience as climate change causes more extreme weather events

Victoria’s energy minister will push for a national approach to weatherproof the electricity grid after a deadly storm left hundreds of thousands across the state without power.

Lily D’Ambrosio said the storm, which swept through the state on Tuesday afternoon and resulted in the death of a dairy farmer in South Gippsland, has caused “one of the largest outage events in the state’s history”.

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Academics in US, UK and Australia collaborated on drone research with Iranian university close to regime

Exclusive: work by researchers from western universities and counterparts at Sharif University considered potentially ‘very dangerous’ by experts

Academics in the UK, Australia and the US collaborated on research related to drone technology with an Iranian university that is under international financial sanctions and known for its close ties to the military, the Guardian can reveal.

The collaborative research was described by one security expert as having direct military applications, while another called it potentially “very dangerous”. Iranian-made drones have been responsible for a number of deadly attacks in the Ukraine and Middle East conflicts, and their development is known to be a top priority for the government in Tehran.

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Victoria police were asked to look at HyperVerse information in 2020 – but sent case back to Asic 22 months later

Australian financial regulator says it referred crypto scheme to police for alleged ‘possible fraud’ and believed matter was under ‘active consideration’

Australia’s corporate watchdog referred information about the alleged US$1.89bn “Ponzi scheme” known as HyperVerse to Victoria police in 2020, only for it to be referred back almost two years later without any action being taken.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission made the referral to Victoria police for alleged “possible fraud offences” after concerns were raised with the corporate regulator about a related company, Blockchain Global. Asic did not provide detail on what prompted the referral.

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Lidia Thorpe calls for ‘sleazy’ MPs to be excluded from sitting weeks and fined for bad behaviour

Senator condemns two-year wait for parliament workplace enforcement body recommended in Jenkins review

Independent senator Lidia Thorpe says parliament has waited “too long” for a workplace enforcement body, and has called for “sleazy” politicians to be excluded from sitting weeks and fined for bad behaviour.

Thorpe alleged she had been inappropriately touched and made to feel unsafe by male politicians on numerous occasions in her three-and-a-half years in Canberra, saying Parliament House’s “old boys’ club” has been allowed to “run roughshod” with impunity for too long.

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Rebuilding of Melbourne heritage house on cards as police investigate fire at the property

Boroondara council moves to order the rebuilding of ‘Shenley Croft’ as condition for any bid to develop the property

The Edwardian-style house boasts a private ballroom and cellar. Located in Melbourne’s affluent, leafy south-eastern suburbs, the heritage-listed Canterbury house was last sold in 2019. A real estate advertisement at the time touted its potential for renovation as one of the 1,320sqm-property’s many selling points.

Within four years of its sale, the house – named Shenley Croft – mysteriously caught fire in December. There is an active police investigation but no charges have been laid.

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Difficult to predict fate of Australia-Tuvalu deal on climate and security, intelligence boss says

Senior intelligence officer agrees deal is facing risk of unravelling amid ‘political change and turbulence’ in Pacific nation after elections, Senate hears

A senior Australian intelligence chief has acknowledged a landmark climate and security deal with Tuvalu may be at risk in the wake of the Pacific nation’s election.

Andrew Shearer, who leads the government’s Office of National Intelligence (ONI), said his agency was “obviously aware of recent political change and turbulence in Tuvalu”.

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Indonesia election 2024: from trade to security, what it could mean for Australia

Australia has signalled it wants stronger ties with Indonesia. With Prabowo Subianto leading in the polls, we look ahead to the post-Jokowi landscape

Indonesia is electing a new president on 14 February, with citizens of the world’s third-largest democracy heading to the polls in a huge day of voting and festivities.

The current president, Joko Widodo, known as Jokowi, has been in power since 2014 but will not be returning to the top job due to term limits.

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ADF chief unaware Fijian officer handed senior Australian army role was accused of torture, parliament told

Angus Campbell tells parliament recently appointed brigade deputy commander Penioni (Ben) Naliva is entitled to presumption of innocence

The chief of the Australian defence force has told a parliamentary committee he was unaware of serious allegations against a Fijian military officer before approving his appointment to an Australian army brigade.

Colonel Penioni (Ben) Naliva, an officer from the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF), was named last month as a deputy commander of the 7th Brigade based at Gallipoli barracks in Brisbane.

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Australia politics live: Queensland introduces bill for carbon reduction target; Garnaut argues for zero-carbon exports

‘Export of zero-carbon goods can underpin a long period of high investment, rising productivity, full employment and rising incomes,’ economist tells press club. Follow the day’s news live

When it comes to treaty and truth-telling though, things are a little less clear. For all intents and purposes the government seems to be backing away from a designated federal process. We heard some of that yesterday, but Linda Burney continues it today.

For all Jacinta Price is accusing the Labor government of doing treaty “by stealth” that doesn’t appear to be the reality. Instead, existing processes look like being utilised.

I am having discussions with the cabinet about that, and I’m not going to go into those discussions. But the issue of truth-telling is incredibly important. And there are many, many ways in which that can happen, including the school curriculum.

The reality is the treaty process is well under way at a state and in many ways at a local level. You look at the Noongar agreement in and around Perth. For all intents and purposes, that’s a treaty.

What I’m suggesting is that we will listen to what people are saying.

I know that there are some people in the media, but I want to talk also to community leadership. I’m meeting with land councils today, for example, who are in Canberra this week for estimates. Those are the organisations that really worked very hard towards the referendum and I want to hear from them where they believe the next steps should be.

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Australia news live: Victoria power outage, fires and storms; Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial – latest updates

AGL says Loy Yang A units due to be ‘returned to service over the next 24 hours’. Follow the latest news and updates today

Bureau of Meteorology’s first look ruled out tornadoes in Victoria

Reports of 120km/hour gusts in Victoria gave an indication of the ferocity of the storms that brought down half a dozen power transmissions towers – and many local poles and wires.

The Bureau of Meteorology does not at this stage have direct evidence of tornados having occurred.

Many severe thunderstorms carry with them a slight chance of tornado development. Predicting tornadoes is difficult and specific warnings are only issued if signs consistent with tornadoes occurring are visible on radar or direct observations are received.

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‘Significant credit issues’ with both Bruce Lehrmann and Brittany Higgins in defamation case, judge says

Justice Michael Lee made remarks during cross-claim hearing made by journalist Lisa Wilkinson against Network Ten over legal fees

There are “significant credit issues” with both Bruce Lehrmann and Brittany Higgins in the defamation case the former Liberal staffer brought against Network Ten and its presenter Lisa Wilkinson, Justice Michael Lee has told the federal court.

“There are a number of significant differences they’ve given in court, a number of in-court representations and out-of-court representations,” Justice Lee said of the two principal witnesses.

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NSW opposition calls for central register of sites under investigation amid asbestos crisis

Environment spokesperson Kellie Sloane says park users should not hear about potential contamination through the media

The New South Wales opposition has called for a central register of all sites being investigated for possible asbestos contamination by the state’s environmental watchdog, including parks and schools.

Councils across Sydney have been assessing their parks and landscaping providers after the City of Sydney announced 32 sites were under investigation for possible contamination in addition to three where asbestos was found in mulch earlier in the week.

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Commonwealth Bank posts $5bn half-yearly cash profit after ‘deliberate’ shrinking of home loan book

Latest financial results show CBA now targeting savers over mortgage holders, amid concerns over weakening competition among major lenders

Australia’s biggest lender, Commonwealth Bank, is losing market share in its home loan book through a deliberate strategy of not competing for less lucrative mortgage customers.

The bank’s tactics feed into concerns there are few signs of healthy price competition between Australia’s major lenders operating in one of the most concentrated sectors among comparable economies.

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Kelly Wilkinson’s estranged husband pleads guilty to murdering her in Gold Coast home

Prosecutors previously alleged Brian Earl Johnston, 37, tied up the mother-of-three before dousing her with petrol and setting her alight

The estranged husband of Kelly Wilkinson, who was doused in petrol and set alight, has pleaded guilty to her murder less than a month before his scheduled trial.

Brian Earl Johnston, 37, appeared before Brisbane supreme court on Wednesday via video link for arraignment on one count of murdering 27-year-old Wilkinson on 20 April 2021 in a Gold Coast backyard as a domestic violence offence.

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NSW taskforce aims to return Indigenous children to their families

Plan includes consultation with community-controlled organisations to reduce number of Indigenous children in out-of-home care

The New South Wales government has announced a new “restoration taskforce” to oversee efforts to return as many Aboriginal children to their families from the child protection system as is safe.

In a significant policy shift from previous governments, the minister for families and communities, Kate Washington, said the “shocking proportion” of Aboriginal children in out-of-home care can be reduced by working in partnership with Aboriginal community-controlled organisations.

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Australian fossil fuel tax could raise $100bn in first year alone, Rod Sims and Ross Garnaut say

Revenue from carbon solution levy could subsidise green iron, aluminium and fuel production, veteran economists argue

A tax on fossil fuel production could help fund Australia’s transition to becoming a carbon-free energy giant, lower the cost of living and assist the world to cut greenhouse emissions, according to two veteran economists.

Ross Garnaut, a leading economist during the Hawke government, and Rod Sims, a former head of the competition watchdog, say a so-called carbon solution levy would raise $100bn in its first year alone if introduced in 2030-31 and set at Europe’s five-year average price of $90/tonne of carbon dioxide-equivalent.

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Avoid swimming pools if you’re part of Australia’s surge in diarrhoea cases, say authorities

Cryptosporidium parasite causes 498 diarrhoea cases in NSW this year and 736 in Queensland in January alone

Health authorities are urging people with diarrhoea to avoid swimming pools as cryptosporidiosis infections surge across New South Wales and Queensland.

The cryptosporidium parasite, which causes acute diarrhoea and can survive in chlorinated water for many days, has been responsible for 498 cases of diarrhoea in NSW this year – a five-fold increase on the five-year average of 95 for the same period.

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