Residents of Queens Avenue in Caulfield East are ramping up the fight against the 1km path and vow to ‘fight until the bulldozers come’
For 30 years, Tamara de Silva has woken up to the sound of birds chirping in the trees across the road from her home in Melbourne’s south-east.
“Listening to the magpies and the lorikeets in the mornings, watching them playing around – it lifts your spirits,” she said.
Continue reading...Researchers report drop in incidents of incivility among staff at facilities with eye signs on the walls, but say further measures are needed
Researchers have found a unique way to tackle “sexist” and “humiliating” behaviour by surgeons in operating rooms across Australia.
It is “not uncommon” for surgeons to describe fellow medical staff in the operating theatre as “incompetent”, to roughly grab surgical instruments or to discredit nurses, says Rose Petrohilos, a junior doctor and intern representative for Bairnsdale Regional Health Service.
Continue reading...Assistant treasurer Stephen Jones says concerns should have been raised about scheme that appeared to be selling ‘worthless investment products’
Chief executive of HyperVerse does not appear to exist
The assistant treasurer, Stephen Jones, has questioned why Australia’s consumer watchdog did not issue a consumer warning against the HyperVerse crypto investment scheme in line with a number of overseas regulators.
A Guardian Australia investigation has revealed widespread losses to the HyperVerse scheme, which escaped regulator attention in Australia despite one overseas authority warning it was a possible “scam” and another describing it as a “suspected pyramid scheme”.
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Continue reading...Potential ‘loophole’ in state’s non-lethal strangulation laws could be closed by a statutory definition similar to that used in Western Australia, experts say
Domestic violence experts have raised concerns about a potential “loophole” in Queensland’s non-lethal strangulation laws, after a man argued in court he had not restricted a woman’s breathing when he executed a chokehold designed to cut off the blood flow to her brain.
The state made choking and strangulation a standalone offence in 2016, saying at the time that the act was “a pivotal moment that reveals an escalation in the seriousness of the violence committed against a person”. Research shows that domestic victims of non-lethal strangulation are seven times more likely to be subsequently killed.
Continue reading...Rank-and-file members say joining the ICJ case accusing Israel of genocide would send a ‘powerful signal to the world’
Rank-and-file Labor party members are urging the Albanese government to intervene in and support South Africa’s case against Israel at the UN’s international court of justice (ICJ), pointing to Australia’s previous support of Ukraine in a similar case against Russia.
The first hearing in The Hague is set for 11 and 12 January with a provisional ruling possible within weeks. Israel has responded to the allegations and urged the ICJ to reject it.
Continue reading...Expert says if you see a snake you should leave it alone and call for a professional catcher
When Tennille Bankes walked into a toilet cubicle in Goondiwindi, Queensland, she was greeted by the scaly tail of a spotted black snake peaking out beneath a closed lid.
The wildlife carer and snake catcher was called by police to the public bathroom after a local, surprised by the reptile, summoned them for help.
Continue reading...Police concerned for autistic man who went walking near Halls Gap and has not been seen since calling family from lookout on Wednesday
Crews in Victoria are searching for a 20-year-old hiker missing in the Grampians national park after he called his family from a scenic lookout.
Jack went on a hike near Halls Gap in the Grampians/Gariwerd park about 250km west of Melbourne on Wednesday, Victoria police said in a statement on Thursday.
Continue reading...Albanese government would need to couple any increases in unemployment benefits and pensions with savings, experts say
Addressing competition issues and increasing unemployment benefits and pensions are ways the Albanese government could tackle cost-of-living pressures but they would have to be coupled with savings to avoid reigniting inflation, economists say.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, on Wednesday said he had asked Treasury and the finance department to develop “further propositions” for providing cost-of-living relief by the May budget.
Continue reading...Pair taken by ambulance to Katoomba hospital after emergency at Echo Point amid storm chaos
Two people have been taken to hospital after being struck by lightning while visiting a popular scenic site in the New South Wales Blue Mountains.
Other visitors were forced to seek shelter from a major storm while rescue crews searched several walking tracks in the area looking for stranded bushwalkers.
Continue reading...Festival will be free of fossil fuel sponsorship for the first time in decades after the departure of Chevron as a sponsor last year
Fossil fuel company Woodside has now severed all ties with the arts company behind one of the largest fringe festivals in the world, after sustained complaints and protests over several years from performers, producers and audiences.
A Woodside spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday a philanthropic agreement with Artrage, one of Western Australia’s largest arts companies which produces the annual Fringe World festival, had been discontinued.
Continue reading...Two men, who have been denied bail, claim three boys were trespassing in Mareeba when they allegedly assaulted and handcuffed them
A pair of alleged vigilantes have been charged with assaulting and handcuffing three boys they believed to be trespassing in an industrial area in Mareeba, near Cairns.
A 36-year-old man and a 27-year-old man, both from Biboohra, have been denied police bail over the incident, involving three boys aged 12 to 14 on 23 December.
Continue reading...NSW Health issues warning after multiple people who visited CBD were hospitalised for pneumonia caused by legionella bacteria
Sydneysiders have been urged to stay alert for symptoms of legionnaires’ disease after seven people were hospitalised after contracting the respiratory illness over Christmas and the new year.
New South Wales Health issued an alert on Wednesday afternoon, warning those who had been in the Sydney CBD area in the past 10 days to monitor for symptoms, which can include fever, chills, cough and shortness of breath. The disease can lead to severe chest infections.
Continue reading...Roads minister John Graham now says the government is unable to act against the signs at Camp Cove that he previously said took 'the rest of us for mugs’
The New South Wales roads minister has failed to follow through on a pledge to veto controversial parking restrictions by a local council in Sydney, with beachgoers now limited to just 15 minutes to park, swim and return to their car.
In November, Woollahra Council – having learned the residents-only parking scheme that had been in place around Watsons Bay for 50 years was actually illegal – decided to implement 15-minute parking limits on the streets near Camp Cove beach.
Continue reading...Dozens rescued from flood waters and thousands remain without power as BoM warns of wild weather in Melbourne, south-east NSW and Queensland
The first week of 2024 is off to a wild start, with storms continuing to lash Australia’s east coast and a heatwave baking the north of the continent.
Thunderstorms were headed for central Victoria on Wednesday and were forecast to become widespread over the eastern half of the state.
Continue reading...Australia, along with Russia, remains one of the few countries in OECD without fuel efficiency standard
The federal government is facing pressure to “stop idling” and swiftly introduce new laws that will encourage carmakers to produce cleaner vehicles as Australia eyes its 2030 emissions reduction targets.
Automotive industry bodies and environment advocates say the European-style fuel efficiency standards would offer consumers greater choice of cleaner cars that are cheaper to run amid the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.
Continue reading...Heavy rain, strong winds and large hailstones reported in parts of state as BoM warns of potential life-threatening flash flooding
More than 40,000 Victorian homes and businesses were without power and some would remain in the dark overnight as wild thunderstorms swept across the state, causing flight delays at Melbourne airport.
A severe thunderstorm warning was issued on Tuesday afternoon for Bendigo, Maryborough, Castlemaine, Kyneton, Ballarat, Bellarine Peninsula and greater Melbourne.
Continue reading...Seven of at least 148 people released after November judgment have since been rearrested
A further two former immigration detainees released in the wake of the high court’s NZYQ ruling have been rearrested after breaches of their conditions.
The men’s arrests over the Christmas period bring the total number of arrests to seven since the high court ruled that indefinite detention is unlawful where it is not possible to deport the non-citizen. At least 148 people have been released as a result of the November ruling, sparking a political crisis for the Albanese government.
Continue reading...Commissioner Col Blanch says alleged offender appeared to be resisting arrest during incident at Perth pub
Western Australia’s top cop has backed a police officer filmed punching a man who was pinned to the ground outside a Perth pub during New Year’s Eve celebrations.
Video of the incident shows the officer repeatedly punching the 25-year-old man in the body as two other officers held him down during an arrest just after midnight on Sunday.
Continue reading...Tyalgum residents hit by devastating flooding in 2022 have stepped up to support each other again after being isolated for nearly two days
Residents of a small town near the New South Wales-Queensland border still grappling with the fallout from major flooding in 2022 have banded together to support each other after the community was again hit by severe weather.
Tyalgum, a Tweed Shire village of about 500 people in north-eastern NSW about 70km from the Gold Coast, was cut off by flood waters for nearly two days over the New Year’s period.
Continue reading...Fisherman who narrowly escaped attack north of Mackay said he had fished in the spot for decades but never seen a crocodile behave in that way
A report of a large crocodile leaping into a fisherman’s boat has triggered an investigation into possible threats to public safety and whether to relocate the animal.
A man was fishing from his tinnie at Jane Creek near St Helen’s Beach, north of Mackay, about 10am on December 31 when he saw a crocodile approaching the boat.
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