Category Archives: Australia news

‘A very brave thing to do’: all-nude play about boomers v gen Z to premiere at Sydney’s Griffin theatre

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An influencer on the run crashes a community of naturalists, in one of five new Australian plays premiering at the theatre in 2025

Boomer naturists will face off with a gen Z influencer in an all-nude comedy at Sydney’s Griffin Theatre Company next year, one of five new Australian plays premiering in its 2025 season.

Naturism, by Sydney playwright Ang Collins, is a comedy about a gen Z eco-influencer (played by Camila Ponte Alvarez) on the run who crashes a remote, off-grid bush eco-paradise created by a group of nudist baby boomers. The entire cast will perform nude for most of the play’s duration.

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Man jailed for pretending to rob Sydney jewellery store in $2.8m insurance fraud plot

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Shanel Tofaeono tied up store employee whose hands were ‘shaking so much due to fear’, judge says

A man who pretended to rob a luxury jewellery store and tied up a terrified employee as part of an alleged $2.8m insurance fraud plot has been jailed for his crime.

Shanel Tofaeono, 39, was part of a wider scheme allegedly headed up by jeweller Michel Germani to stage a robbery of his Hilton hotel store in Sydney’s CBD in January 2022.

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Greens MP invokes Whitlam in public housing push – as it happened

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Plibersek approves three coalmine expansions

We have more on environment minister Tanya Plibersek’s approval of three coalmine expansions on Tuesday from Graham Readfearn here.

There’s a range of everyday common health conditions that are unnecessarily blocking up our emergency departments and contributing to those wait times to see our precious general practitioners.

We would love to see more GPs. Who doesn’t love their local family doctor? My wife and I and our children certainly do. But we all know how difficult it is to not only find one, find one that bulk-bills, but find one that hasn’t closed their books and can take an appointment. That’s not just in the bush, that’s in our major capital cities as well, whether it’s after 6pm or on a weekend, when your local pharmacy is open.

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Rightmove rejects third bid from Rupert Murdoch’s REA Group

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Australian company says it is frustrated that UK property website has refused to engage over £6.1bn offer

Rightmove has rejected a third bid from Rupert Murdoch’s REA Group and said the offer was “unattractive” and undervalues the UK’s largest online property portal.

On Wednesday Rightmove confirmed that its board had “unanimously rejected” the non-binding cash-and-shares offer put forward on Monday, which valued the company at £6.1bn.

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‘It’s a deadly gamble’: NSW urged to act on ‘growing threat’ of nitazenes amid push for drug-checking services

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Exclusive: Legalise Cannabis party MP calls on government to recognise that powerful synthetic opioids ‘aren’t just another drug’

The New South Wales government will be asked to formally recognise the powerful synthetic opioids called nitazenes as a “growing threat” as it faces calls to introduce drug-checking services.

The Legalise Cannabis party MP, Jeremy Buckingham, will move a motion in state parliament on Wednesday night to acknowledge that nitazenes are an emerging problem, including for people who don’t typically take opioids.

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Three per cent of patients died after undergoing knee replacement by NSW doctor, inquest hears

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Orthopaedic surgeon Elie Khoury performed the operations which have a usual mortality risk from 0.1% to 0.8%

Three per cent of an orthopaedic surgeon’s patients who underwent bilateral knee replacement surgery at Albury Wodonga private hospital died, a New South Wales coroner has heard.

Kenneth Toll, 62, died on 20 July 2019 three days after undergoing the elective surgery at the hospital. The inquest, which began on Monday, is examining the medical care and treatment provided to Toll in the lead-up to his death.

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New ghost shark species with unusually long nose discovered in deep seas off New Zealand

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The narrow-nosed spookfish is also found in Australian waters and is distinctive for its elongated snout and whip-like tail

A new species of ghost shark, with an unusually long nose and a whip-like tail, has been discovered in the inky depths of New Zealand waters.

Scientists at New Zealand’s National Institute for Water and Atmospherics (Niwa) initially believed the creature was part of an existing species found around the world, but further investigation revealed it was new, genetically distinct, species.

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Gambling lobby pushes Labor to consider age verification to block minors from betting

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Meanwhile anti-gambling campaigner Tim Costello fears Albanese government will ‘squib’ on broad reform

Opponents of a gambling ad ban are pushing the federal government to instead consider using age verification to block minors from sports betting content.

Earlier this month the government announced plans to ban young children from accessing social media using age verification technology.

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A police strip-search left Mysa feeling dehumanised. New data reveals the extent of the practice in NSW

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Exclusive: Figures made public for the first time expose ‘problem with police accountability’, lawyer says

Mysa Le felt “vulnerable and completely helpless” when she was ordered by police to undress in front of them so they could search her body for drugs.

Le was strip-searched at Sydney’s Midnight Mafia music festival in May 2018, where she said two female police officers took her into a booth and told her to take off her clothes without explaining what was happening.

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Campaign demanding University of Sydney vice-chancellor resigns is ‘dangerous’, Jewish Council warns

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JCA’s Sarah Schwartz says targeting Mark Scott’s handling of pro-Palestinian encampment risks conflating criticism of Israel with antisemitism

A “concerted campaign” calling for University of Sydney vice-chancellor Mark Scott’s resignation is “dangerous” and conflates criticism of Israel with antisemitism, the Jewish Council of Australia says.

Scott is facing calls to resign over the university’s handling of a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus. He has apologised and conceded the university must do better.

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Tanya Plibersek approves three coalmine expansions in move criticised as ‘the opposite of climate action’

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Decision angers environment groups with Australian Conservation Foundation saying Albanese government ‘continues to disappoint’

The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, approved three coalmine expansions on Tuesday in a step described by conservationists as reckless and “the opposite of climate action”.

The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) said the three projects, all in New South Wales, would generate more than 1.3bn tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in their lifetime.

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Suspected poisoning of 30 magpies in Cootamundra under investigation

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Local vet says nine birds have died and the rest are being treated, with many unable to stand or walk

The New South Wales environmental watchdog is investigating a suspected poisoning that has left nine magpies dead and more than a dozen others needing treatment.

Karlie Johnston, the practice manager at Cooper Street veterinary hospital in Cootamundra, said 30 magpies had been brought into the vet in recent days. Many were unable to stand or walk, and some had completely lost the use of their legs.

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No talk of hikes, no cut on the horizon: why RBA thinks it’s in the ‘right spot’ with interest rates

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There was good news and bad news as Australia’s central bank held the interest rate steady for the seventh time in a row

The good news is the Reserve Bank is all but done lifting interest rates. Less good news is that the central bank is also not about to cut them.

Those were probably the key takeaways from the RBA’s sixth board meeting of 2024 and the seventh since it last slugged borrowers with it’s last cash rate hike.

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Peter Hannam is Guardian Australia’s economics correspondent

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Teenager killed in Woodgrove shopping centre stabbing attack

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The alleged altercation took place at Woodgrove shopping centre in Melton West

A teenage boy has been stabbed to death after an altercation at an outdoor food court area at a Melbourne shopping centre.

Emergency services were called to Woodgrove shopping centre in Melton West just before midday on Tuesday. First responders attempted to provide CPR to the teenage boy, but he died at the scene.

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Australia news live: RBA ‘didn’t explicitly consider’ hiking interest rates, governor says

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Reserve Bank leaves interest rate on hold for seventh meeting in a row. Follow all the days’s headlines live

Tony Armstrong is leaving ABC News Breakfast for a new show screening in 2025. He told viewers this morning:

I just want to thank Brekky and the broader ABC News team for welcoming me in with open arms and helping me grow over the past few years. I love live TV and those moments that are unplanned and unpredictable where anything can happen. I’ve been so lucky to be surrounded by an incredible team and it’s those friendships that I’m going to cherish the most.

How blessed we’ve been to have Tone on our screens every morning, bringing the sparkle, joy and heart that only Tony can! Tony is a wonderful friend and everyone at News Breakfast is going to miss his infectious and caring nature. I know it’s meant so much to me and to thousands upon thousands of First Nations viewers waking up to see Tony representing us on the daily. Can’t wait to see what you do next, Tone! Maybe sleep?!

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Plunging temperatures and rain forecast for Sydney in end to ‘walk-on-the-beach weather’

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‘Significant’ change will lead to rain, BoM says, with temperatures tumbling in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane

After a warm start to spring, temperatures are forecast to plummet across Australia’s eastern and south-eastern states in the coming days.

“We are expecting a significant change to come for much of the east and south-east of the country,” the Bureau of Meteorology’s Jonathan How said, with New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Brisbane forecast to experience cooler weather in the coming days.

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Victorian Liberal leader ‘surprised’ deputy secretly recorded meeting with Moira Deeming, defamation trial hears

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Opposition leader John Pesutto cross-examined in federal court case brought against him by ousted Liberal MP

Victoria’s opposition leader, John Pesutto, says he was “surprised” his deputy had secretly recorded a meeting held between the Liberal party’s leadership team and MP Moira Deeming a day after she spoke at a Melbourne rally in 2023, the federal court has heard.

Pesutto began giving evidence in the defamation trial brought against him in the federal court on Tuesday afternoon.

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No cuts in ‘near term’ as RBA leaves Australia’s official interest rate unchanged at 4.35%

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RBA decision was in line with economists’ forecasts as economy endures persistent inflationary pressures

The governor of the Reserve Bank, Michele Bullock, says she does not see interest rate cuts “in the near term” as the central bank waits for clearer evidence inflation is in retreat before it begins cutting borrowing costs.

The RBA ended its latest two-day board meeting on Tuesday by keeping its cash rate at 4.35%, the level its remained since November. The decision was as economists had expected.

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Mother of alleged murder victim Hannah McGuire confronts ‘vile’ man who stole $64,000 from fundraiser

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Lachlan Morganti pleads guilty in Ballarat court after using GoFundMe money raised for McGuire’s family to fund his gambling habit

A man who organised a crowdfund campaign to support an alleged murder victim’s family squandered the money to fuel his gambling addiction, a court has found.

Lachlan Morganti, 22, pleaded guilty in Ballarat magistrates court to the theft of more than $64,000 from the online fundraiser in April.

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Lawsuit alleges medical device to replace patient’s jaw had ‘inherent defects’

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Maxoniq is being sued by a patient who said in a court filing their device was ‘not fit for purpose’, allegations it denies

A medical device that was intended to replace a patient’s jaw had ‘inherent defects’ and caused increased pain, nerve damage and limited jaw movement, according to a statement of claim lodged in the county court of Victoria.

Guardian Australia has previously reported that two other patients whose jaw pain was treated with the Maxoniq OMX TMJ prosthesis device alleged in separate cases filed to Victoria’s county court that they suffered life-changing injury, loss, and damage due to complications after their surgeries. In those cases, the patients are taking legal action against maxillofacial surgeon Dr George Dimitroulis, a company director of Maxoniq and who also oversaw their treatment. Dimitroulis is defending the claims.

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