Category Archives: Australia news

Death of Indigenous teen found on rail tracks with towel under head ‘suspicious’, NSW coroner says

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Police initially ruled Mark Haines’ 1988 death a suicide but coroner says investigation hindered by racism and deeply flawed

The police investigation into the death of Indigenous teenager Mark Haines in northern New South Wales nearly four decades ago was hindered by racism and deeply flawed, a coroner has found.

The body of the Gomeroi teenager was discovered on train tracks outside Tamworth on the morning of 16 January 1988.

A stolen Holden Torana was found crashed nearby.

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Recently single Australian men are seven times more likely to report a suicide attempt, study shows

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Fathers particularly affected, with almost 15% reporting suicidal plans after relationship breakdowns, according to survey of 20,000 men

Men who have recently gone through a breakup are seven times more likely to report a suicide attempt than those who haven’t, a new study shows

The Ten to Men project has followed more than 20,000 Australian men and identified the mental health risks in relationship breakdowns, which can include changes in their contact with their children, in their finances, and in their support network.

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Two children dead after pram hit by car in Sydney despite ‘phenomenal’ bystander efforts to save them

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Police found two children – both aged under five – had been struck by a car in Cabramatta, in the city’s south-west

Two children in a pram have been struck and killed by a car in Sydney’s south-west.

Emergency services were called to the intersection of Joseph and Gilbert streets, Cabramatta at about 3.15pm on Wednesday after reports of a crash, New South Wales police said.

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AFP investigates banner stunt during Pauline Hanson’s National Press Club speech

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Activist group GetUp claims responsibility for incident, saying ‘we thought the occasion deserved some honesty’

The Australian federal police is investigating a protest incident during Pauline Hanson’s speech at the National Press Club after political activist group GetUp claimed responsibility for the stunt.

In a statement on Wednesday afternoon, the National Press Club said it had referred the incident to police after concluding none of its own staff were involved.

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Birthkeeper hired by woman who died after freebirth tells inquest she was ‘not there to make a birth safer’

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Emily Lal – paid $6,000 to provide freebirth support package to Stacey Warnecke – tells coroner her role was primarily to be a ‘supportive friend’

A birthkeeper hired by a woman who died after giving birth at home has told a coroner that she was “not there to make a birth safer”.

Emily Lal gave evidence on Tuesday at the inquest into the death of 30-year-old Stacey Warnecke, who died on 29 September in Frankston hospital after giving birth at home with her husband and Lal present.

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Paedophile teacher William ‘Rob’ Gilfillan sentenced for sexual offences against two Victorian schoolgirls in the 1980s

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Former PE teacher will serve time for crimes perpetrated at Traralgon high school in Gippsland concurrently with prior 48-year sentence

A former physical education teacher serving Australia’s longest sentence for child sexual abuse offences against his daughter has been sentenced to seven-and-a-half years for “brazen and forcible” sexual crimes against two schoolgirls in his care in the 1980s.

In December, William “Rob” Gilfillan was found guilty of indecent assault of a person under 16 and sexual penetration of a child under 16. The five counts against two victims took place at Traralgon high school in Gippsland, Victoria.

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RBA interest rates: Reserve Bank holds official cash rate at 4.35% as economy slows and unemployment rises

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Reserve Bank of Australia decision on Tuesday comes after three consecutive cash rate hikes this year

The Reserve Bank has warned it is ready to raise interest rates further despite leaving its official interest rate on hold at 4.35%.

The widely expected decision on Tuesday will bring little relief to mortgage holders, already strained by the RBA’s three consecutive rate hikes earlier in 2026.

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Brisbane teenager allegedly plotted terror attacks on Liberal party targets, court hears

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Teenager denies planning attacks on party figures and Labour Day march after allegedly being influenced by the Unabomber

A Brisbane private schoolboy allegedly plotted terrorist attacks against the Liberal party and Brisbane’s Labour Day march in 2024 after being influenced by the Unabomber.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was 16 in 2024 when he was arrested by counter-terrorism police.

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‘Life-changing’ injuries: family reels from ‘tragic situation’ as Coogee shark attack victim loses arm

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The family of Leah Stewart is braced for more bad news and the impact on her 18-month-old daughter

The family of the woman critically injured in Saturday’s horrific shark attack at Coogee beach is still coming to terms with the catastrophic scope of her injuries and the heartbreaking impact on her toddler.

Leah Stewart, a 35-year-old primary school teacher, mother and dedicated ocean swimmer, remained on life support in the intensive care unit at St Vincent’s hospital after being mauled by a suspected 3.5-metre great white shark.

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Fashion goals: Socceroos trade kit bags for it-bags as they level up off-field style

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Australia stepped off the team bus in suits and holding designer pouches, showing they’ve come ‘a long way from a Country Road bag on the side of the field’

As suited and booted Socceroos stepped off the bus in Vancouver and towards a 2-0 victory against Turkey, many dangled designer pouches. Tete Yengi and Mo Touré carried what appeared to be Goyard, the it-bag of choice for athletes world wide. Burberry checks and monograms from Louis Vuitton and Dior were also spotted.

“They’ve come a long way from a Country Road bag on the side of the field,” said Benjamen Judd, Esquire Australia’s head of content.

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Pakistani police officer arrested over shooting death of ‘happy, bubbly, friendly’ Australian girl Hania Ahmed

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Punjab police said an officer mistakenly opened fire at the Ahmed family, who were victims of a robbery at Chakwal

A Pakistani police officer has been stood down and arrested after mistakenly shooting dead a young Australian girl who was on holiday with her family.

Australian-born Hania Ahmed and her family were visiting a relative at Chakwal, in Pakistan’s Punjab province, when they were robbed while in their rental car late on Wednesday night (local time).

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Father may have thrown daughter into Parramatta River in suspected murder-suicide, police say

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NSW police say suicide note and ‘other evidence’ suggest six-year-old’s death was an act of domestic violence

A suicide note has been located after the bodies of a young girl and her father were pulled from the Parramatta River on Saturday.

The six-year-old may have been deliberately thrown in the water by the man from a hired boat in what police believe was a horrific act of domestic violence.

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NSW lifts drone ban over Sydney beach after shark attack – as it happened

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This blog is now closed

The Senate will deliver its report from the NDIS inquiry on Tuesday. Butler doesn’t directly answer a question about whether or not he is willing to make any significant changes to the legislation the government has put forward.

He says:

Look, the direction of travel I think is an important one for us to follow through. This largely reflects reviews and insights that we’ve gathered over the last three years since the independent review was done of the NDIS in 2023 and endorsed by all governments at national Cabinet later that year.

I’m utterly convinced this is the right plan for the NDIS… I’m not saying there won’t be any change. We heard ideas from the crossbench in the debate in the House of Representatives. I’ve very much heard that people want greater reassurance about what won’t change because of the reforms we’re putting in place.

We have to constrain that growth. Without reforms it would grow to $20 billion by the end of the decade and that’s simply not a sustainable position.

It’s also allowed us, as I said, to protect the core supports people rely upon for that safety that was part of your introduction.

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Angus Taylor using NDIS cuts as ‘pawn in bigger chess game’, Mark Butler warns

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Opposition and Greens could team up to extend inquiry into changes but health minister ‘utterly convinced’ federal government’s plan is right

Mark Butler has doubled down on his plans to pass contentious NDIS changes as early as this month, warning the opposition against using the bill as a “pawn in a bigger chess game” as they consider a potential deal with the Greens.

The Coalition and the Greens have criticised Labor’s truncated timeline to pass NDIS, negative gearing and capital gains changes, and have signalled they could team up against the government in the Senate to extend inquiries into the bills.

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Liberal frontbencher Jonno Duniam to quit politics, says leadership spill ‘started to really wear on me’

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Tasmanian senator says he feels he is ‘letting down the team’ but needs to prioritise family

Liberal frontbencher Jonno Duniam will quit politics before the end of the year, in another major blow to the struggling Coalition as it experiences its lowest levels of popularity in decades.

The Tasmanian senator, who was elected to parliament in 2016 and is seen as one of the Liberals’ best talents, said it was an “extremely difficult decision to make” but one he had been considering for “quite some time” to spend more time with family.

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Australian girl killed in Pakistan after reportedly being shot by police

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Nine-year-old visiting relatives in Punjab province when police opened fire on car, local media report

A nine-year-old Australian girl has been killed and two of her family members injured after reportedly being shot by police in Pakistan.

The family were visiting a relative in Chakwal, in Punjab province, when they were robbed while in their rental car on Wednesday night local time, Pakistani English-language news outlet Dawn reported.

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‘There was a lot of blood in the water’: paddleboarder rescues woman after ‘shocking’ Coogee shark attack

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Charlie Verco managed to grab hold of the woman and bring her back to shore after the Sydney shark attack on Saturday

Elite paddleboarder Charlie Verco has only seen one shark bigger than the one he saw on Saturday at Sydney’s Coogee beach.

The North Bondi athlete was training for July’s world championships in Hawaii on Saturday morning when he heard a swimmer shouting “shark”.

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Woman in critical condition after shark attack at Coogee beach

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A woman in her 30s has been transported to hospital with arm and leg injuries and beaches in Sydney’s east have been closed after the attack

A woman in her 30s is in a critical condition after being bitten by a large shark at Coogee beach on Saturday, with a witness describing the scene at the popular Sydney beach as “shocking”.

A spokesperson for New South Wales Ambulance said the woman suffered arm and leg injuries and had been taken by road to St Vincent’s hospital.

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Antarctica’s west coast missing an area of sea ice the size of France as temperatures peak 20C above average

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Exclusive A vast area of the Bellingshausen Sea should be covered by sea ice by now, with one expert calling the loss of ice ‘depressing’

Antarctica’s west coast is missing an area of winter sea ice the size of France, sparking concerns for threatened penguins other marine life and global sea levels.

One expert said the loss of ice in the Bellingshausen Sea was “depressing” and the failure of ice to form could have intensified a heatwave over the continent’s peninsular last week that saw daytime temperatures peak at 15.4C which is more than 20C above average.

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NDIS changes ‘retrogressive’ and out of step with review, MPs say

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Report by Labor-led joint human rights committee says cuts to the $50bn scheme could limit support for those in need

Sweeping changes to the NDIS appear “retrogressive” and lack alignment with a landmark independent review to improve the $50bn-a-year scheme, a Labor-led committee has found.

The 57-page scrutiny report from the joint human rights committee, released on Friday, examined the proposed changes under the Albanese government ahead of a separate report due next week by a Senate inquiry. The Labor-chaired committee questioned the human rights implications of winding back access for more than 200,000 participants in the coming years, which could leave many without sufficient disability support.

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