Netanyahu lashes out at Albanese as ‘weak politician who betrayed Israel’ as diplomatic row escalates

Israel’s prime minister accuses Australian leader of ‘abandoning’ Jews as tension escalates over visa cancellation and Palestinian recognition

Benjamin Netanyahu has launched an extraordinary broadside against Anthony Albanese, labelling Australia’s prime minister “weak” in a social media post, hours after local Jewish groups called for calm in diplomatic relations.

“History will remember Albanese for what he is: A weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia’s Jews,” read a post on X from the account of Israel’s prime minister, on Tuesday evening Australian time.

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WA government put ‘very rosy spin’ on report into Woodside emissions at Murujuga, scientist’s private email says

Report part of a project used in lobbying effort to dismiss UN concerns that industrial emissions were damaging 50,000-year-old ancient rock art

The Western Australia government “put a very rosy spin” on a summary report of a project checking if pollutants from Woodside were damaging 50,000-year-old rock art, according to a private email sent by the lead scientist.

In an email released to the ABC, Murujuga Rock Art Monitoring Project lead scientist Prof Ben Mullins, of Curtin University, said the WA government had “insisted” on writing the summary report, despite a contract saying that Curtin should write it.

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NSW daily rainfall could ‘nudge triple figures’ with wet weather forecast to intensify

Flood concerns along east coast and severe weather warning for west coast amid national cold snap

Daily rainfall in parts of New South Wales could hit triple figures this week, as Australia’s east and west coasts brace for more wet and cold weather.

Several places along the NSW coastline saw rainfall of more than 50mm overnight into Tuesday, according to the Bureau of Meteorology, which warned that the wet weather would persist and intensify on Wednesday and Thursday.

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Newborn baby found dead in Perth storm water drain placed there in recent days, police say

WA premier describes ‘horrifying scenario’ after workers found child’s body while cleaning drain on Monday

A newborn baby boy found dead in a suburban storm water drain was placed there in recent days before being discovered, police have said.

The horrifying discovery of the infant’s body was made in Alexander Heights in Perth’s north on Monday afternoon.

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Israel’s foreign minister revokes visas of Australian representatives to Palestinian Authority

Penny Wong calls decision, which follows Australia’s refusal of a visa for the far-right Israeli politician Simcha Rothman, ‘unjustified’

Israel’s foreign minister has revoked the visas of Australian representatives to the Palestinian Authority, citing Australia’s “unjustified refusal” to grant visas to Israeli figures and its intention to recognise Palestinian statehood.

In a post to X on Monday night, Gideon Sa’ar said the decision was made following the Albanese government’s cancellation of Simcha Rothman’s visa on Monday ahead of his speaking tour this month.

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Dead infant found in Perth stormwater drain

Police said multiple resources were deployed to Alexander Heights after they received reports about 1pm

The body of a dead infant has been found in a stormwater drain in Perth, Western Australia police have confirmed.

Police said multiple resources were deployed to the suburb of Alexander Heights after they received reports about 1pm on Monday.

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Far-right Israeli politician barred from Australia ahead of speaking tour

Simcha Rothman – a supporter of plan to remove Palestinians from Gaza – was scheduled to appear at events in Sydney and Melbourne

A far-right Israeli politician, who has described Palestinian children in Gaza as “enemies” and called for Israel’s total control of the West Bank, has been denied entry into Australia ahead of an upcoming “solidarity tour”.

Simcha Rothman, a member of the Knesset for the far-right party Religious Zionism, was scheduled to appear at two public events in Sydney and Melbourne in August and two private events billed as a “solidarity tour”.

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Outback Wrangler star asked colleague to take paralysed pilot’s phone from hospital after fatal crash, court told

Reality TV star Matt Wright has pleaded not guilty to three charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice

Reality TV star Matt Wright told an associate to collect the phone of a severely injured pilot following a fatal helicopter crash, a jury has heard.

The Outback Wrangler star has pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice in the Northern Territory supreme court in Darwin.

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Young Australians may endure worse lives than their parents, ‘worried’ productivity chief warns

Productivity Commission chair urges ‘growth mindset’ to solve looming problems for future generations ahead of economic summit, while reiterating call to limit AI regulation

Young Australians may endure worse lives than their parents, the nation’s productivity chief has warned.

Danielle Wood, chair of the productivity commission, said young people are facing a future of lower wages, increased costs and the impacts of climate breakdown without major government action to tackle major economic challenges.

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Northern Beaches hospital agrees settlement after claims newborn left with lifelong disabilities

Exclusive: Child was born via emergency caesarean at 25 weeks after mother says hospital initially failed to diagnose her appendicitis, court documents show

Sydney’s Northern Beaches hospital has settled outside court with a family after claims their baby was born by emergency caesarean at 25 weeks and left with lifelong disabilities.

Court documents seen by Guardian Australia reveal the baby’s mother presented to the hospital’s birthing unit in 2022, complaining of lower abdominal pain on her right side. The woman – who cannot be named for legal reasons – says she was sent home without being given an ultrasound or undergoing any further investigation.

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Cost of Victoria’s renewable energy transmission plan projected to double

Higher energy bills to cover the increased transmission costs could be offset by more renewable energy in the grid, state government says

One of Australia’s largest renewable energy transmission projects has expanded zones for solar, battery and wind developments with the cost of connection to almost double.

The latest version of Victoria’s 2025 Transmission Plan, released by state government agency VicGrid on Sunday, revealed a 200,000-hectare increase in the area available to developers.

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Tasmanian salmon farming expansion on hold as state Liberals order review ahead of parliament showdown

Premier Jeremy Rockliff attempts to win support from crossbench MPs and survive no-confidence motion when state parliament returns this week

The Tasmanian Liberal party has promised a pause on salmon farm expansion and an independent review of the industry as it attempts to win support from crossbench MPs and survive a no-confidence motion in the state parliament this week.

In a concession to independent MPs critical of the operation of salmon farms in public waterways, the premier, Jeremy Rockliff, on Sunday said he supported the industry but that it was “on notice” after a mass mortality event last summer, and it must “operate transparently and responsibly and meet its obligations to the community”.

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PM deflects question about literal red carpet for Putin and says Trump ‘an advocate for peace’ in Ukraine – as it happened

This blog is now closed

Tim Wilson sidesteps question about whether Coalition will dump support for net zero

Finally, Wilson was asked about internal pressure within the Coalition to abandon support for any policies that might help Australia achieve net zero and to address the climate crisis.

We should make sure that we have net zero outages, net zero price increases, and net zero emissions, because you need to have things in a position of balance of policy to make sure that we can grow the future of the Australian economy, because that’s also the basis of social licence to cut emissions as well. If you don’t have net zero outages and net zero price increases, public support for net zero emissions reduction is also going to fray.

I’m going to work with my colleagues to make sure we drive them forward as part of a policy package to take to the next election. I’m absolutely committed to making sure we have simplification, to make it easier to employ more Australians, and to raise standards of living, and improve the number of Australians [getting jobs] and well-paid jobs.

We’ve got big challenges coming ahead around [things] like artificial intelligence and making sure we make workplaces more productive, but also building out the capacity for small businesses to be successful as part of a dynamic economy.

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Yes, men still read books, but reading rates for Australian women and children are declining too

It’s clear that if there is a crisis, it affects both men and women, boys and girls. So what can be done to boost reading?

The demise of men reading books has, once again, been greatly exaggerated.

A recent ABC article about Australians’ reading habits claimed “Australians, especially men, are reading less than ever before” and “the data showed females, on average, were reading more than males across all age groups”.

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Rain and storms forecast for much of Australia’s east coast for every day next week

Meteorologist says while there is disagreement over how much rain will fall, the general consensus is NSW and Queensland will have another wet week

For Australia’s east coast, the wet weeks are dragging on with no immediate reprieve in sight.

“I know people in Sydney and other parts of New South Wales will be sick of hearing this,” the Bureau of Meteorology’s Angus Hines told the ABC on Saturday. “But it will be another wet week across the eastern coastline, all the way from the Illawarra through New South Wales, through Sydney, Newcastle, through Brisbane up to the Wide Bay in Queensland”.

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Climate wars are simmering among the NSW Liberals – and they could pose a problem for Mark Speakman

Energy policy had been an area of mostly bipartisan agreement for the NSW opposition – until now

The never-ending war within the Coalition over energy policy and climate targets appears to have infected the New South Wales Liberals as they struggle to restore the administration of their branch and get traction with voters.

It’s bad news for the NSW opposition leader, Mark Speakman, whose hold on the leadership is being increasingly questioned.

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UTS academics describe ‘culture of fear’ as enrolments put on hold for nearly a fifth of courses

The freeze comes as the university pursues $100m in cost cuts and after it announced in April it could axe 400 jobs

Academics at the University of Technology Sydney have described feelings of stress and a “culture of fear” after the educational institution temporarily paused student enrolments for nearly a fifth of its courses, leaving staff wondering if their jobs will be among the hundreds set to be axed.

The university has stopped taking in new students for 120 of its 615 courses, including masters degrees in teaching primary and secondary education. More than 50 of the affected courses were international study options attached to other degrees. The pause will last until the end of the autumn 2026 semester.

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Guardian Australia wins Kennedy awards for outstanding digital innovation, photography and columnist

Leaving Gaza interactive, a portrait by Carly Earl, and columnist Ranjana Srivastava claim media accolades

Guardian Australia has won three Kennedy awards for outstanding digital innovation, outstanding portrait photography and outstanding columnist at an industry event in Sydney.

The Leaving Gaza interactive, which showcased text messages exchanged between Palestinian friends – one in Gaza, one in the US – in the opening days of the Israel-Gaza war, won the innovation category.

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Man arrested over Sydney airport scuffle back in custody after alleged assault at Central train station

Nicholas Teplin, 41, allegedly struck three men on Thursday afternoon, a day after airport arrest during which a police gun accidentally fired

A Victorian man involved in an airport scuffle in which a police gun was accidentally fired is back in custody for allegedly assaulting several people the next day.

Nicholas Teplin, 41, faced a court on Friday on allegations he hit three men in the head at Sydney’s Central railway station and then shoved a police officer while in custody.

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Israeli minister says Sydney Harbour Bridge protesters ‘useful idiots’ who fell for terrorist propaganda

Sharren Haskel accuses demonstrators of ‘marching with terrorist organisations’ but organisers reject her claims and say people are ‘outraged’

An Israeli government minister has said the thousands of Australians who marched across the Sydney Harbour Bridge to protest against the killing in Gaza were “naive” and “useful idiots” for Hamas.

Sharren Haskel, Israel’s deputy foreign affairs minister, also claimed during Friday’s interview on ABC radio that there was not a “real famine” in Gaza.

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