Man succumbs to serious injury suffered during fall while skiing, with paramedics declaring him dead at the scene
Police say the death of a man while waterskiing at an annual event on the Victoria-NSW border is a tragedy that will affect the community for months to come.
It was the sixth fatal accident at the Southern 80 waterski race since 2006.
Continue reading...More than 500 dogs sent to US for rehoming as local industry breeds more dogs than needed and demand for homes outstrips supply
Greyhound welfare advocates are calling for more transparency after figures emerged that at least 500 dogs have been sent to the US for rehoming as the racing industry continues to breed far more dogs than are needed.
Australia is one of seven countries where commercial greyhound racing is legal – New Zealand, Mexico, Ireland, the UK, US and Vietnam (where no races occur) also allow the sport.
Continue reading...The species can climb waterfalls and reaches back to Gondwanaland – but there are fears polluted runoff has proven fatal
A “miracle fish” may have been snuffed out in its Sydney habitat by bungled construction work at a nearby government high school, local environmentalists fear.
The climbing galaxias (Galaxias brevipinnis) belongs to a species line reaching back to Gondwanaland. It was only identified in the Manly Dam region in Sydney’s north – the fish’s most northerly known location in Australia – in 1998.
Continue reading...The speed of recent pivots reveals there is genuine concern that people are uneasy about the Games amid rising housing and cost of living pressures
Denver, Colorado, is the only place to ever cancel the Olympic Games. The city had won the right to host the 1976 Winter Games, but withdrew amid mounting local opposition.
“We ought to say to the nation and the world, ‘We’re sorry … we made a mistake. Take the Games elsewhere,” state representative Bob Jackson told the Associated Press in 1971.
Continue reading...With less than nine months before an election, lobby group is yet to find an independent candidate who aligns with their values
Less than nine months out from the Queensland state election, not a single ‘teal’ candidate has emerged to attract funding from influential lobby group Climate 200.
Experts say it’s increasingly unlikely credible teal challengers will emerge ahead of the October poll, given the time needed for an independent to build name recognition in the electorate.
Continue reading...Shooting one of two separate incidents on Friday night after second man allegedly attacked four people with glass bottle
Police have alleged a man shot in the abdomen in the centre of Melbourne on Friday night had threatened and pursued protective services officers with broken glass.
It was one of two separate incidents in Melbourne’s CBD on Friday night after a 27-year-old man allegedly attacked four people with a glass bottle after a reported botched handbag robbery on a tram.
Continue reading...Police say victim did not know alleged attackers but there is no threat to wider community or indication it was gang-related
Two men have faced court charged with torture, kidnapping and other offences while two others are wanted for questioning over an alleged violent attack on a woman in Brisbane.
Detectives say the victim did not know her alleged attackers but there is no threat to the wider community or indication it was gang-related.
Continue reading...Mother-of-three, 51, was last seen leaving her Eureka Street home about 7am last Sunday to go for a run
Police have expanded an appeal for dashcam or CCTV footage as they investigate the disappearance of the Victorian woman Samantha Murphy.
Murphy, 51, was last seen leaving her Eureka Street home in Ballarat East about 7am last Sunday to go for a run.
Continue reading...Victoria police launch fresh appeal for information on anniversary of death of Boronia woman Nanette Ellis
The family of a single mother murdered in her own home say their pain has been made worse by not knowing who killed her, as they launched a fresh plea for answers on the 40th anniversary of her death.
Melbourne woman Nanette Ellis was stabbed in her Boronia home by an unknown offender or group of offenders on the evening of 10 February 1984.
Continue reading...Two of the biggest Aboriginal groups in NSW claim racism is ‘rife’ in the child protection system, which needs an overhaul
Pressure is growing for the New South Wales government to review its out-of-home care providers after it was revealed in court that a faith-based service refused to assess an Aboriginal kinship carer because of her sexual orientation.
The call comes as two of the biggest Aboriginal organisations in NSW claim racism in the child protection system is “rife” and closing the gap measures to reduce the number of Aboriginal children taken into care will fail unless the Minns government overhauls the sector.
Continue reading...Australian foreign minister says diplomacy alone will not prevent potential future conflicts in the region
Penny Wong has told her Indian and Sri Lankan counterparts of the need for transparency and reassurance to guard against “miscalculation and accident” in the Indian Ocean, warning of the potential of “costly consequences” in the wake of trade disruptions in the Red Sea.
Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have continued their drone and missile attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea – a key global trade route. The US and UK militaries have retaliated with airstrikes on key locations within the Arabian Peninsula country, with support from Australia.
Continue reading...A man allegedly attacked people with broken glass before he was shot once by PSO working with police at the scene in Melbourne
A protective services officer has opened fire on a man who confronted them with broken glass after reportedly trying to rob people on a tram in the centre of Melbourne.
Police say the officers were responding to an incident on the Princes Street Bridge just after 5.30pm on Friday when they were approached by the man.
Continue reading...Roberts-Smith, 45, is seeking to overturn June defamation trial judgment that found he engaged in war crimes in Afghanistan
News companies defending a defamation appeal launched by Ben Roberts-Smith over reports he engaged in war crimes in Afghanistan have told a court the ex-SAS corporal’s case is “fundamentally flawed”.
The appeal by Roberts-Smith, 45, seeks to overturn his June defamation loss against Nine newspapers and the Canberra Times over 2018 reports on war crimes during the Victoria Cross-recipient’s Afghanistan deployments.
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Continue reading...Consultancy’s global executive says report suggests there’s no evidence confidential information was used for commercial gain
PwC has faced furious rebuke from politicians, the country’s tax office and a regulator for repeatedly refusing to share a report it used to argue that a damaging tax leaks scandal was isolated to Australia.
The report, by law firm Linklaters, was cited by PwC’s global executive to assure regulators there was no evidence that confidential details about multinational tax laws received by the firm’s international partners were used for commercial gain.
Continue reading...Legislation banning the use of the devices, which have been linked to deaths in custody, passes in NSW with cross-party support
Advocates are calling for a nationwide ban on spit hoods – which have been linked to deaths in custody – after New South Wales became the second state to outlaw the use of the restraint devices.
The Ban Spit Hoods Coalition, which works to end the use of the fabric device which is placed over people’s heads in custodial settings, said spit hoods were an unacceptable threat to human life and dignity and that all states and territories should follow the lead of NSW and South Australia, with the latter state the first to ban its use in 2021.
Continue reading...Australian artist Archie Moore will draw from his personal history – and databases including Guardian Australia’s Deaths Inside – to create a ‘site for quiet reflection’
Queensland-based artist Archie Moore has unveiled his intention for Australia’s national pavilion at the Venice Biennale in April: to transform it into an examination of the impact of colonisation and incarceration on the country’s First Peoples and a celebration of their resilience.
Moore is only the second First Nations artist to make a solo presentation in the 25-year history of Venice’s Australian pavilion, following Tracey Moffatt in 2017. While key details of the exhibition were still being kept under wraps at the press briefing on Thursday, Moore said in a statement that his exhibition – titled kith and kin – would be a “site for quiet reflection and remembrance”. It will draw on his Kamilaroi, Bigambul, British and Scottish heritage and present his family story as a distillation of Australia’s 254-year colonial history.
Continue reading...Byelection poll puts Labor ahead by a nose as rightwing campaign on Anthony Albanese’s ‘broken promises’ ramps up
Voters in Dunkley have backed Labor’s tax cut package by more than two-to-one, despite the party facing a barrage of negative cost of living ads from Advance Australia.
According to a uComms poll for the leftwing thinktank the Australia Institute, Labor has its nose in front in the byelection seat 52% to 48% – although that result is within the poll’s 3.9% margin of error.
Continue reading...Supermarkets will ask customers to recycle scrunchable plastic food packaging for first time since REDcycle ended
Woolworths, Coles and Aldi will roll out soft plastics collection bins in 12 Melbourne stores, giving customers a place to recycle their scrunchable food packaging for the first time since the demise of REDcycle.
A spokesperson for the Soft Plastics Taskforce – made up of the three supermarkets and chaired by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water – said the trial, which begins this week, is possible because of new soft plastic recycling facilities that began operating last week.
Continue reading...Minister says she didn’t have all the evidence about alleged UN staff links to 7 October attacks before she paused funding
Australia’s foreign minister, Penny Wong, has said she did not have all the evidence about serious allegations regarding a key United Nations agency delivering aid to Gaza before she decided to halt funding.
Australia, the US and the UK were among more than 10 donors to suspend funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) after the Israeli government alleged that as many as 12 staff members were involved in the 7 October attacks.
Continue reading...Labor will be forced to introduce special legislation after Coalition prevented last-minute amendments to fix the issue
Labor’s closing loopholes bill has passed the Senate with a Greens amendment creating a new right for employees to disconnect from work emails and calls.
But the final votes were thrown into confusion by the discovery that the bill inadvertently allowed criminal penalties for breach of a stop order by the Fair Work Commission. Labor sought leave to amend this, but was denied by the Coalition.
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