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.
Continue reading...Price trends are unlikely to be straightforward in 2024, even if the RBA’s next move is a rate reduction
Australia’s “rollercoaster” real estate market faces fresh peaks and troughs in 2024 as the prospect of falling interest rates contend with a recent slowdown in price increases.
Renters, meanwhile, are experiencing smaller increases in payments but the share of income going to rent remains at near-record levels with little relief in sight.
Continue reading...Australian federal police notified after 23-year-old woman allegedly became abusive on board a plane at Gold Coast airport
A Victorian woman allegedly assaulted airline staff at Gold Coast airport on New Year’s Eve while on board a plane bound for Melbourne.
The 23-year-old was arrested after airline staff notified the Australian federal police that a passenger was allegedly being verbally abusive on the plane, the AFP said.
Continue reading...State government says group has specialist skills and appropriate agency is chosen at federal level
The Australian defence force was not deployed after storms hit the Gold Coast because it was determined other agencies would be better suited to the clean-up task, according to the Queensland disaster coordinator.
Acting deputy commissioner, Shane Chelepy, told media on Monday afternoon that the state response to continued thunderstorms and flooding has been bolstered by 50 cleanup workers from a veteran-led not-for-profit, Disaster Relief Australia.
Continue reading...New plan bans selling of native timbers and includes transition payouts to sawmills and towns to diversify industry
The end of unsustainable commercial logging in Western Australia could save almost 20,000 square kilometres of forest, the state government says.
Chopping down native karri, jarrah and wandoo hardwood in the state’s south-west and selling it is banned from Monday. The state’s environment minister, Reece Whitby, said it was a historic moment for WA.
Continue reading...‘Sea sparkles’ appeared at Hobart’s waterfront, the NSW mid-north coast and Sydney’s Manly, with hundreds delighting in the natural phenomenon
Revellers along the Hobart waterfront welcomed in the new year with the glow of fireworks in the sky – and bright, blue bioluminescence lighting up the ocean.
With an easterly wind bringing the “sea sparkle” to the east coast, onlookers were treated to a truly glowing end to 2023.
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Continue reading...Department of primary industries investigating after protected fish species allegedly killed in Cronulla
The alleged spearing and killing of a protected fish species in Sydney over the weekend is being investigated.
According to local reports, onlookers were left outraged after an endangered blue groper (Achoerodus viridis) was allegedly speared and killed at Oak Park in Cronulla on Saturday.
Continue reading...Police say one man has life-threatening injuries after ‘terribly serious’ fire in suburb of Mill Park
Eleven people have been taken to hospital, including a man with life-threatening injuries, after a fire broke out at a New Year’s Eve house party in Melbourne’s north-east.
Emergency services were called to a home on Development Boulevard in the suburb of Mill Park just after 11pm on Sunday, responding to reports of a fire burning in the garden.
Continue reading...BoM forecasts heavy rain for south-east Queensland and northern NSW, while across the far north temperatures will remain in the 40s
Parts of south-east Queensland are being battered by heavy rain in a soggy start to the new year, with dangerous flooding predicted.
Intense falls in some areas could lead to life-threatening flash flooding, the Bureau of Meteorology warned on Monday afternoon.
Continue reading...Anna Meares among athletes paying tribute to former track cyclist who competed at world championships and Olympics
• Rohan Dennis charged over death of wife Melissa
Melissa Dennis is being remembered as a popular and talented competitor as Australian cycling reels from her death.
Olympic gold medallist Anna Meares paid tribute to Dennis on Monday morning, while AusCycling also released a statement.
Continue reading...Nick McKim says national security committee documents used to justify the war may answer questions about momentous foreign policy decision
The release of the 2003 cabinet papers “barely scratches the surface” of the Howard government’s “disastrous decision to go to war in Iraq” and reinforces the need for a parliamentary vote before committing Australia to future wars, Greens senator Nick McKim has said.
McKim has demanded the full release of all national security committee and cabinet documents related to the 2003 decision, which committed Australia to the US-led “coalition of the willing” to invade Iraq.
Continue reading...Reports name Melissa as woman who died after being hit by car in Adelaide and Rohan as the driver
Two-time Olympian and Two-time Olympiancyclist Melissa Dennis has died after she was struck by a car in Adelaide’s inner north.
Dennis’s husband and fellow Australian Olympic cyclist, Rohan Dennis, has reportedly been charged in relation to her death.
Continue reading...Hundreds of thousands gather in Sydney and Melbourne to enjoy spectacular fireworks displays
Australians turned out in their hundreds of thousands to see in the new year under a midnight sky lit up by fireworks.
In Sydney, crowds were abuzz and at maximum capacity as revellers crammed picnic rugs together across harbour foreshore vantage points. More than 8.5 tonnes of fireworks went up in smoke alongside 80,000 pyrotechnic effects to the sounds of jubilant cheers.
Continue reading...Kristy Holmes always knew she could use her electric car for ‘good things’, but when storms caused a blackout, it proved life-saving
An electric vehicle owner has used her car’s emergency power system to run her 11-year-old son’s lifesaving dialysis machine and another has ridden to the rescue of his neighbours after devastating storms cut power in south-east Queensland.
When the power went down following storms and flash flooding on Christmas Day, many residents immediately felt the consequences: electric gates did not work, septic tanks began to fill, air conditioners could not run and fridges began to warm as a heatwave followed.
Continue reading...Cabinet papers from 2003 show there was no formal submission before decision was taken to join US-led ‘coalition of the willing’
Australia joined the US-led invasion of Iraq, one of the most contentious decisions of John Howard’s prime ministership, without a formal cabinet submission setting out a full analysis of the risks.
Cabinet papers published by the National Archives on Monday show the full cabinet signed off on the decision on 18 March 2003 based on “oral reports by the prime minister”.
Continue reading...Renowned Australian journalist and documentary filmmaker covered conflicts in Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh and Biafra
The Australian journalist and documentary film-maker John Pilger has died aged 84, his family have announced.
A statement posted to his account on X said: “It is with great sadness the family of John Pilger announce he died yesterday 30 December 2023 in London aged 84.
Continue reading...The Howard government drafted a statement declaring its support for an emissions trading scheme before abruptly changing course
The Howard government drafted a statement declaring its support for an emissions trading scheme 20 years ago, only for the idea to be scuttled by business lobbying, newly released documents show.
Cabinet papers from 2003, released by the National Archives on Monday, show the then Coalition government was in possession of clear advice from Treasury that a broad-based market mechanism would be the cheapest way to reduce emissions.
Continue reading...Cabinet papers from 2003 show the government pursued talks without consulting peak Indigenous body – which it then abolished
The Howard government fought strongly against recognising the right of Indigenous peoples to “self-determination” and worked secretly with Canada to try to change a draft UN declaration, newly released cabinet papers show.
The cabinet papers from 2003, released by the National Archives on Monday, show that some Australian government departments held concerns about potential impacts of the UN declaration on the rights of Indigenous peoples, but Australia’s talks with Canada on amendments were being pursued with “no Indigenous consultation about the process or its product” as such input would be “premature”.
Continue reading...Despite a surplus of eggs at fertility clinics around the country, very few end up being donated to research or other prospective parents
The vast majority of eggs frozen by prospective mothers go unused, causing headaches for IVF clinics and preventing potentially groundbreaking research.
Scientists are decrying a wasted opportunity as thousands of frozen eggs sit unused in storage instead of being used in potentially valuable medical research.
Continue reading...Video shows airline staff and other passengers holding a man down after disturbance on flight on Sunday
Federal police are investigating after Qantas cabin crew were forced to pin down a disruptive passenger on a flight from Bali on Sunday.
Video shows Qantas staff and other passengers holding the man down after a disturbance on a flight from Bali to Melbourne.
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