Labor greenlights contentious Robbins Island windfarm despite fears for endangered orange-bellied parrot

Environment advocates have called for important migratory shorebird habitat off Tasmania to be declared ‘no-go site’

The Albanese government has greenlit a contentious windfarm proposed for Robbins Island off north-western Tasmania, promising to impose conditions to protect threatened bird species, including the critically endangered orange-bellied parrot.

The environment minister, Murray Watt, announced on Friday that he had approved an application by the renewable energy company Acen Australia to build up to 100 turbines, a 1.2km bridge between the nearly 10,000-hectare island and the Tasmanian mainland, a 500-metre wharf and four quarries.

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Looming crisis for NSW’s regional galleries averted with $15.4m in state arts funding

Labor announced on Thursday Create NSW’s Arts and Cultural Funding Program will provide financial assistance for 62 organisations statewide

Arts organisations and galleries across New South Wales have voiced their relief after the state government announced $15.4m funding over two years, allaying worries of a looming crisis for NSW’s regional galleries.

Sixty-two arts organisations across NSW will receive $15.4m funding for the next two years through Create NSW’s Arts and Cultural Funding Program (ACFP), the state government announced on Thursday, with $7.5m going to 31 regional arts organisations, including 10 regional galleries.

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Overcrowding in NSW hospitals ‘worst’ some doctors have seen as winter illnesses clog emergency departments

State health minister Ryan Park says there have been more than 45,000 presentations to EDs over the past five days

The New South Wales health minister has encouraged people to call the health hotline instead of going to emergency departments as a spike in winter illnesses has doctors saying overcrowding is the “worst they have ever seen”.

In a statement on Thursday, Ryan Park said there had been more than 45,000 presentations to EDs over the past five days.

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Expelled ambassador says allegations against Iran ‘baseless’ during Sydney airport exit

Ahmad Sadeghi faced media questioning at the airport before boarding a flight out of Australia

Iran’s former ambassador to Australia – now persona non grata – has denied allegations his government was behind two antisemitic arson attacks in Australia, describing the accusations as “baseless” as he left the country.

Ahmad Sadeghi faced media questioning at Sydney airport before boarding a flight out of Australia.

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Labor accused of trying to ‘sneak through’ law change to strip non-citizens of fair process

Greens’ David Shoebridge calls amendment ‘one of the nastiest, meanest attacks’ on multicultural Australia

Refugee and human rights groups will launch a campaign demanding the federal government scrap a controversial migration amendment to explicitly remove procedural fairness in deportation decisions for foreign-born criminals, a proposal which advocates say is causing alarm among migrants.

The Senate on Thursday rejected a Greens push for an inquiry into the legislation, which the senator David Shoebridge slammed as “one of the nastiest, meanest attacks” on multicultural Australia.

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Second Melbourne man charged over arson attack on Adass Israel synagogue fronts court

Younes Ali Younes, 20, will appear again in December with co-accused Giovanni Laulu although court heard no evidence of links to Iran

A man charged with torching a Melbourne synagogue in an antisemitic attack was remanded in custody when he appeared in court on Wednesday.

Younes Ali Younes, 20, last week became the second suspect to be charged for the December arson attack on the Adass Israel synagogue which Australia accuses Iran of directing. Police allege three masked arsonists doused the building’s interior with a liquid accelerant before igniting it, causing extensive damage and injuring a worshipper.

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Stonehaven school bus crash: one student dead and more children seriously injured after bus rolls over in regional Victoria

Nineteen students taken to hospital after ‘serious collision’ on Hamilton Highway involving members of Christian College Geelong

One student has died and 19 others have been taken to hospital, some with serious injuries, after a school bus rolled in regional Victoria.

The bus, carrying 28 students ranging from primary to secondary school age, was turning left onto the Hamilton Highway north-west of Geelong when the incident occurred, Victoria police said in a statement.

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Brittany Higgins ordered to pay almost $350,000 in defamation damages to Linda Reynolds

Former defence minister’s reputation was damaged by social media posts by her former staffer, judge rules

Linda Reynolds has won her defamation case against Brittany Higgins in the Western Australian supreme court, marking the end of a protracted legal battle with her former staffer.

The state supreme court judge Paul Tottle ruled on Wednesday that the former defence minister’s reputation was damaged by social media posts published by Higgins in July 2023.

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France to sue Kick for alleged negligence over livestream death

Minister says Australian platform ‘did not do everything possible to stop the broadcast of dangerous content’

France will sue the Australian streaming platform Kick for alleged negligence after a user died during a livestream, a government minister has said.

The platform has come under scrutiny in France after a 46-year-old Frenchman died earlier this month during a 12-day livestreaming marathon on his channel, which specialised in him enduring abuse or humiliation dished out by other participants.

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Australian Jewish groups applaud expulsion of Iranian diplomats but say community faces renewed fears

Adass Israel synagogue board member says announcement of Iran’s involvement in December arson attack has caused ‘general fear’ among congregation

Australian Jewish groups have applauded the government’s “entirely appropriate” move to expel the Iranian ambassador in light of Iran’s alleged connections to antisemitic attacks in Australia – but say the “horrendous” news has renewed fears among the already traumatised community.

Responding to news the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps will be listed as a terrorist organisation in Australia, Jewish community members said the action was welcome but overdue.

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‘Dangerous’ suspect who allegedly killed two officers escaped into bush alone and is believed to be ‘heavily armed’ – as it happened

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Wangaratta police have confirmed there is still an “active incident” ongoing and are continuing to urge people to avoid the area.

In a statement published to its social media page a moment ago, the local police service said Victoria police “continues to respond to an incident at a property in Porepunkah”.

This is still an active incident and we will provide more information when it’s operationally safe to do so.

We ask people avoid the area.

Tonight’s Ordinary Council Meeting has also been postponed, and will be rescheduled for two weeks’ time. Further details will be provided at a later date.

We thank you for your patience and understanding.

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Dinner or a shower? Elderly people fear tough choices when Australia’s new aged care changes are rolled out

Advocates warn increased costs for basic assistance like showers and wound cleaning will push older people into aged care or hospital

Margaret Duckett is scared for her friends.

The 77-year-old pensioner is the recipient of a home care package – which allows her to get support with cleaning, gardening, transport, physiotherapy and podiatry – and some personal care, so she can continue living independently at her home in Sydney’s Riverview.

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ABC defence correspondent Andrew Greene quits after failure to disclose junket

Resignation comes after Media Watch revealed a German defence company bidding for an Australian contract paid for him to visit its shipyards

A senior journalist at the ABC has tendered his resignation two months after the public broadcaster’s Media Watch program raised potential conflict-of-interest concerns over a press junket.

Andrew Greene has been defence correspondent for the past 10 years since joining the ABC in 2010.

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Jai Kalani Wright: video of Indigenous teen’s fatal collision with police car prompts family walkout of Sydney court

Benedict Bryant has pleaded not guilty to a charge of dangerous driving occasioning death

Harrowing footage has been aired in court of the moment an Indigenous teenager riding a trail bike crashed into a police vehicle, as a battle erupts over the relevance of an earlier collision.

Sgt Benedict Bryant, 47, was behind the wheel when Jai Kalani Wright rode the motorbike into his unmarked police vehicle in inner-city Sydney on 19 February 2022.

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Erin Patterson plea hearing live updates: mushroom murder cook faces victims’ families in pre-sentence hearing – latest news

Pre-sentencing hearing at Victorian supreme court concludes after Patterson was found guilty of triple murder and attempted murder in July

Court hears statement from sister of Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson

Prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC is reading a victim impact statement on behalf of Lynette Young, the sister of Gail and Heather. She says:

I’m just so angry and so sad that my people are not here to be the loving parents and grandparents that they always were.

She was more concerned about our own family, our work, our kids, than she was about her own sudden and unexpected health crisis …

I miss her daily and life feels less bright without her.

The world seems colder and harsher knowing this.

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Murray Watt advised by own department to declare protection order over ‘significant Aboriginal area’ in WA

Exclusive: Environment department document states that Burrup peninsula site near Woodside gas plant ‘under threat of injury or desecration’

The environment minister, Murray Watt, has been advised by his department to declare a protection order over part of the Burrup peninsula in Western Australia due to its significance as an Aboriginal site, a government affidavit filed in the federal court shows.

A Murujuga traditional custodian, Raelene Cooper, applied in 2022 to protect the area’s cultural heritage from nearby industrial activities, including Woodside’s planned extension of its North West Shelf processing plant.

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Government to ‘feel the pressure’ after Gaza protests, says Greens leader – as it happened

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David Littleproud continues to insist the Coalition is not setting itself up for another election defeat by maintaining its support for nuclear power.

Speaking to 2GB on Sunday, Littleproud said the Coalition would take a different approach than it did at the last election by lifting the moratorium on nuclear power generation in Australia and “let the market do it”.

I just say to your city viewers, regional Australia is bearing the brunt of this. I’m seeing towns and I’m actually seeing families being torn up by these renewable projects that are tearing up their productivity, your food security and actually the native environment. And it’s all without premise.

Artificial intelligence was absolutely central to our discussions because it will be absolutely gamechanging in our economy and our society into the future.

Getting it to 8% will be a good effort but not good enough, as minister Mark Butler has pointed out, so we will continue to work with the states on providing the support that people need and deserve, particularly in this instance, when it comes to Thriving Kids.

Well, that’s the ongoing discussions that we’ve been having, whether it’s treasurers, health ministers, NDIS ministers, leaders, have been having this discussion since the deal was struck.

What’s the best way to implement. Two deals, not one. They are closely related. There are billions and billions of dollars tied up in them and so we’ve been trying to progress both of those deals at once for good reason because there are swings and roundabouts for both of us.

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Retirees ‘deserve’ super tax breaks, treasurer says, as government considers how to give younger Australians ‘fair go’

No plan to alter concessional measures on retirees’ superannuation as part of tax reforms, Jim Chalmers says

Retirees still deserve concessional treatment on their superannuation, the treasurer says, despite mounting calls for an overhaul of the tax system.

Jim Chalmers said fairness for younger generations needed to be considered as part of any change to taxes, after talks at the three-day productivity roundtable in Canberra.

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Passengers to get to Sydney CBD in minutes from new train station set to boost construction of 10,000 homes

Commuters could get from Woollahra to city in eight minutes on eastern suburbs line with rezoning of area to include ‘a dedicated portion of affordable housing’

Australia’s oldest suburban rail network is on track for its first new station in more than a decade to boost construction of 10,000 homes in the country’s most expensive property market.

A station wasn’t built at Woollahra on Sydney’s eastern suburbs line when the route was built in the 1970s because of community opposition.

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NSW Health trying to ‘gag’ frontline workers from posting online, union warns

Exclusive: ‘Final draft’ social media document says staff should report concerns about their colleagues’ social media use to their manager

The doctors’ union is warning a New South Wales Health social media policy being drafted will gag frontline health workers speaking up publicly for patient care in Australia, as the government agency insists it is an update to an existing policy.

According to the “final draft” document, social media subject to the rules includes “internal communication tools” such as Microsoft Teams, and instant messaging software applications including WhatsApp, as well as social media networking sites and forums for discussion.

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