Category Archives: Australia news

NSW government fails to veto 15-minute parking scheme at exclusive beach despite pledge

Posted on by

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...

East coast weather: Victoria and NSW brace for heavy rain as more storms forecast for Queensland

Posted on by

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...

Federal Labor under pressure to ‘stop idling’ on car fuel efficiency standards

Posted on by

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...

Victoria weather: thousands lose power as wild thunderstorm sweeps state

Posted on by

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...

Two more immigration detainees arrested in wake of high court ruling

Posted on by

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...

WA police chief says cop who punched man during New Year’s Eve arrest did not use excessive force

Posted on by

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...

‘Very daunting’: small NSW-Queensland border town pulls together after being cut off by flood waters

Posted on by

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...

Queensland wildlife officers investigate after crocodile leaps into fisherman’s boat

Posted on by

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...

Australia’s property market faces fresh peaks and troughs with slowing prices and interest rates tipped to drop

Posted on by

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...

Victorian woman arrested after allegedly assaulting airline staff

Posted on by

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...

Disaster relief nonprofit chosen for Queensland flood cleanup before Australian defence force

Posted on by

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...

WA bans commercial native logging in move state says could save 20,000 sq km of forest

Posted on by

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...

‘It’s beautiful’: bioluminescence lights up ocean in Tasmania and parts of NSW in glowing end to 2023

Posted on by

‘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.

Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads

Continue reading...

Alleged spearing of beloved blue groper in Sydney sparks outrage

Posted on by

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...

Eleven people in hospital after fire at Melbourne New Year’s Eve house party

Posted on by

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...

New Year’s Day weather: flash-flood warnings for Queensland and NSW as Northern Territory swelters

Posted on by

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...

Friends pay tribute to Melissa Dennis as Australian cycling community mourns

Posted on by

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...

Greens demand full release of government documents on ‘disastrous’ decision to join Iraq invasion

Posted on by

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...

Rohan Dennis charged over death of wife, fellow cyclist Melissa Dennis

Posted on by

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...

New Year’s Eve: huge crowds turn out in Australian cities to see in 2024

Posted on by

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...