Category Archives: Australia news

Former Australian deputy PM Barnaby Joyce says official JFK assassination findings didn’t ‘stack up’

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Coalition MP says he has spent ‘an awful lot of time’ researching topic, and official theory that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone is ‘implausible’

The former deputy prime minister and Coalition frontbencher Barnaby Joyce claims the official narrative of the assassination of US president John F Kennedy 60 years ago “doesn’t stack up”, saying he didn’t believe the findings of the Warren commission that only one shooter, Lee Harvey Oswald, was involved and acted alone.

The member for New England said he had devoted “an awful lot of time” to researching the incident, saying his own experience using firearms led him to believe that a rifle shot from the book depository – the official conclusion of the 1964 report into Kennedy’s death – was “implausible”.

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Speculation builds that murder-accused Queensland councillor will run for re-election

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Many believe Gold Coast councillor Ryan Bayldon-Lumsden will contest election despite being charged with stepfather’s murder

Ryan Bayldon-Lumsden’s Facebook page looks like any other local councillor’s would four months out from an election.

At a Gold Coast community centre, he’s pictured preparing food for the homeless. And if he’s not planting trees in the Arundel Wetlands, he’s out attending community events like Diwali, or posting updates about a new toilet block or development application.

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Australia’s 100 wealthiest schools earned almost $4.8bn in 2021, data reveals

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Exclusive: education department figures reveal the private schools received about $767m in government money amid a public schools funding shortfall

Australia’s 100 wealthiest schools had a combined income of $4.8bn in 2021, data reveals, as calls grow for the federal government to urgently address inequity in the education system.

About $767m of that income came from government funding; the rest from fees, private contributions and donations.

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Victorian government told emissions targets at risk under plan to increase taxes on renewable energy providers

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Industry experts say renewable energy providers could pay up to 20 times more tax if bill passes

Victoria’s ambitious emissions targets could be imperilled if the state government’s plan to slug renewable energy providers millions more in taxes each year goes ahead, the sector has warned.

Renewable energy providers could pay up to 20 times more tax if a bill currently being debated in Victorian parliament passes, according to industry experts.

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Toowoomba council votes for moratorium on coal seam gas projects

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Council becomes sixth in Queensland to oppose development of new wells after farmer concerns about sinking soil and water contamination

The largest council in Queensland’s Darling Downs region has called on the state government to put a moratorium on new coal seam gas projects, after local farmers raised concerns about subsidence.

The Toowoomba regional council on Tuesday unanimously passed the motion that requested a temporary prohibition, after discussing a submission to the state government’s proposed amendments to the Regional Planning Interests Act.

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Housing prices back at record levels, defying Australia’s interest rate rises

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The 7.5% drop from the April 2022 peak has been recovered, but some cities are faring better than others, CoreLogic analysts say

Australian home prices are back at record levels, recovering all of the 7.5% dip from their previous peak in April 2022, according to the data group CoreLogic.

As of Wednesday, Corelogic’s home value index had climbed 8.1% higher than the recent nadir reached at the end of January this year, defying five additional interest rate rises by the Reserve Bank since then.

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Greens could sink Labor’s gas industry scheme over concerns it supports fossil fuel expansion

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Exclusive: Adam Bandt says party cannot endorse $12 a gigajoule price cap due to exemptions allowing new ‘climate bomb’ gasfields

The Albanese government’s mandatory code for the gas industry could be at risk, with the Greens vowing to disallow the scheme because it supports new gasfields even as the climate crisis worsens.

The Greens will move a disallowance vote in the Senate next Monday, saying the code with its $12 a gigajoule price cap had benefited big gas users. Uncontracted supplies of the fossil fuel had also been diverted to the domestic market.

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Fiji may partner with China to upgrade ports and shipyards, PM Rabuka says

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Fijian leader ‘anticipates collaboration’ with Beijing on projects amid rising concern over China’s ambitions in Pacific

China may help Fiji develop its ports and shipyards, the Pacific island country’s prime minister said, raising the prospect of stronger ties with Beijing in a key area of its economy.

Prime minister Sitiveni Rabuka, who has been cautious about China’s expanding security footprint in the Pacific, praised Beijing’s record of aid to Fiji in fighting Covid-19, developing agriculture and revamping infrastructure.

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Australia news live: Bruce Lehrmann ‘utterly destroyed’ by Ten broadcast, court told

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Former Liberal staffer is seeking ‘substantial’ damages over The Project broadcast, lawyer says. Follow today’s news live

More than 20 people have been arrested and charged following an unauthorised pro-Palestine protest at Port Botany overnight.

According to a statement from NSW police, about 400 people gathered at the protest. Police issued a move-on direction, which they say was not complied with.

The group continued to occupy Foreshore Road, blocking vehicle movement.

That just gives a really clear line drawn that if it’s labour hire, it’s covered, if it’s service contractors, it’s not.

In terms of the conversations with the crossbench, I continue to reach out to the crossbench [and] there’s a series of meetings that continue to happen.

They’ve made a decision that they don’t want to deal with this bill until next year. I would rather we were dealing with it over the next fortnight. We certainly will be dealing with it next week in the House of Representatives.

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Friendlyjordies: NSW police hunt for crime gang after fire at YouTuber’s home

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Jordan Shanks-Markovina is being provided with police protection due to suspected gang links to fire attacks

A YouTube personality whose home was targeted in a suspected arson case is being given police protection as detectives hunt the organised criminals believed to be behind the attack.

Investigators hope CCTV footage, released on Wednesday, could spark a breakthrough as they try to find those responsible for the fire at the Bondi house of Jordan Shanks-Markovina, known online as Friendlyjordies.

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Police investigating whether driver’s diabetes a factor in Daylesford pub crash that killed five

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Detective tells coronial hearing that investigation still in its ‘infancy’ and no charges have been laid

Victoria police are investigating whether a driver’s diabetes was a factor in the fatal Daylesford pub crash that left five people dead, the coroner’s court has heard.

The driver of a white BMW SUV crashed through a busy beer garden in the regional town of Daylesford on 5 November, striking 10 people from three Melbourne families.

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Immigration detention: Rohingya refugee NZYQ freed after high court case did not show remorse for raping 10-year-old

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Psychologist noted ‘risk factors’ for possible reoffending including ‘attitudes’ stemming from his own childhood abuse, court documents reveal

The plaintiff who overturned the legality of indefinite immigration detention in the high court was found to be owed protection because he experienced forced labour and his brother was abducted and killed in Myanmar.

Previously unreported details of the stateless Rohingya refugee, known as NZYQ, were contained in court documents published on Tuesday, including that the judge did not find he had shown remorse in relation to his conviction for the rape of a 10-year-old boy, despite pleading guilty. The documents also show a psychologist had noted “risk factors” for possible reoffending including “attitudes” stemming from his own childhood abuse.

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Labor to reconsider mandatory data retention laws for companies in light of major hacks

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New cyber security strategy cites business concerns at having to store large amounts of data for excessive periods of time, increasing breach risk

Following several high-profile data breaches in the past year, the federal government will review laws requiring companies to retain data as part of its new cyber security strategy.

Released on Wednesday, the 2023-30 strategy notes that data is increasingly used for ransom attacks and as a tool for coersion.

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NSW premier defends police conduct after dozens arrested at pro-Palestine rally in Sydney

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Chris Minns says police acted ‘responsibly’ despite condemnation from civil liberties groups

The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has rejected accusations police were heavy-handed when they arrested people at a pro-Palestine rally in Sydney on Tuesday night.

NSW police arrested and charged 23 people who attended the protest at Port Botany directed at the unloading of a ship owned by Israeli company ZIM, which has supported the Israeli government in its fight with Hamas in Gaza.

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John Setka: union boss’s estranged wife said she had ‘to kill my children’s father to survive’, court hears

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Emma Walters told police she did not want to kill ex John Setka but was ‘in distress’ and had used ‘florid language’

The union leader John Setka’s estranged wife told a private investigator “I have to kill my children’s father to survive, you’re going to help me work out how I do it”, a court has been told.

The comments were revealed in a secret video played to court on Tuesday, when Emma Walters had a firearm charge against her dismissed.

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‘Vulnerable’ Pacific countries must get maximum benefit from ‘loss and damage’ fund, Australian climate minister says

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Chris Bowen also says climate disaster fund will need to be bankrolled by broader-than-expected range of countries in speech ahead of Cop28

Australia’s climate minister, Chris Bowen, says Pacific nations and other countries vulnerable to climate catastrophe should be the major beneficiaries of “loss and damage” funding, and a broader range of countries should bankroll the international effort along with the private sector.

Bowen used a speech to a foreign policy thinktank on Tuesday night to signal Australia’s position ahead of Cop28, the looming United Nations-led climate talks, which get under way in the United Arab Emirates later this month.

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Shareholders of mining company Fortescue deliver protest vote against executive pay plans

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Iron ore miner rebuked with 52% of investors voting against remuneration report amid senior staff departures

Iron ore miner Fortescue received a stern rebuke of its executive pay plans on Tuesday, with shareholders registering a strike against the company after a tumultuous period of senior staff turnover.

The Andrew Forrest-chaired company lost the chief executive of its mining business, its chief financial officer and a high-profile former director in quick succession earlier this year, causing shareholder angst.

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‘Grave concerns’: backlash over NSW government’s controversial push to extend racing boss’s tenure

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Minns government faces legal and political fight as it attempts to pass laws to give Racing NSW chair unprecedented 14-year term

New South Wales crossbench MPs are fighting to amend controversial legislation that would extend the tenure of Racing NSW’s chairman for a third time and grant him an unprecedented 14-year term.

The Minns government is trying to rush through legislation in the final parliamentary sitting fortnight of the year to grant Russell Balding another two-year term at the helm of the powerful racing regulator’s board before his position expires on 18 December.

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BoM provides El Niño update – as it happened

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This blog is now closed

Birmingham says China ‘doesn’t appear to be acknowledging the facts’

Shadow foreign minister Simon Birmingham is speaking with ABC RN and is asked about sonar pulses from a Chinese warship that left one Australian naval diver injured.

The Australian navy and Australian defence force operates always with professionalism, and I’m confident that Australia’s version of events is a credible.

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Labor and Coalition team up to retrospectively authorise ‘unlawful’ use of material gathered by Australian agency

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Bill authorises previous uses of coercive powers, removing legal question mark that had dogged Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission

Labor and the Coalition teamed up to pass a bill retrospectively authorising potentially “unlawful” use of material gathered in special investigations by Australia’s most secretive law enforcement agency.

The bill is the third attempt to cure a long-running legal defect in the powers of the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission to conduct special investigations and operations.

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