Australian Retail Association predicts $23.9bn in spending for sales period ending on 15 January
Retailers are expecting Boxing Day shoppers to spend $1.25bn on Tuesday as the sector hopes for relief from a drop in discretionary spending.
Retail sales have been sluggish throughout 2023 as cost-of-living pressures bite.
Continue reading...Boxing Day weather also predicted to be volatile across NSW, Victoria and Queensland, with more thunderstorms and rain forecast
A woman has died and more than 100,000 homes been left without power as a result of severe thunderstorms in south-east Queensland on Christmas night, with warnings of more bad weather to come on Boxing Day across New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.
Intense storms affected all three eastern states on Monday, with more than 1,200 calls for help to state emergency services and Sydney airport recording its wettest Christmas Day on record.
Continue reading...Workers claim they have been forced to clean up human faeces, had payments cut off after a death in the family and have had to cancel work to attend provider appointments
Jobseekers say their employment providers have put them in positions where they have been given just one shift a fortnight, had to clean up large amounts of human faeces, and have been cut off payments after a close family member died.
In one case, Rebecca, who did not want her last name used, said her disability provider, Multiple Solutions, had registered her as a sole contractor and placed her into a role cleaning an aged care home in Gawler, South Australia, without telling her she was technically self-employed.
Continue reading...Canberra Raiders recruit dies aged 26 while holidaying with his family at Christmas
The NRL player Troy Dargan has died in a motorcycle accident while holidaying in the Cook Islands.
Dargan played two NRL games, both for South Sydney in 2020, and had joined Canberra on a two-year contract for the upcoming season.
Continue reading...The Bureau of Meteorology warns of more thunderstorms and heavy rain for large parts of Australia’s east coast
Queenslanders and parts of New South Wales have been told to hunker down amid Christmas Day warnings for large hailstones, heavy rain and possible flash flooding.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued thunderstorm warnings on Monday afternoon for parts of Queensland’s southern interior and the north of the state,
Continue reading...Two other protesters were denied entry at the gates to the concert at Sidney Myer Musical Bowl
Thousands of people joined in to sing along at Carols by Candlelight in Melbourne on Sunday, with the festivities momentarily interrupted by two Pro-Palestine protesters who stormed the stage as children were performing.
The protesters were tackled and quickly removed, with host David Campbell appealing for calm and assuring people the children were safe.
Continue reading...The 14-year-old was being towed behind a boat on a tube when he fell off and disappeared from view on Sunday
A search and rescue effort has ended in tragedy after the body of a 14-year-old boy was pulled from a river on Queensland’s Fraser Coast.
The boy was being towed behind a boat on a tube when he fell off and disappeared from view just after 10am on Sunday.
Continue reading...NSW police say no one should open or remove any of the packages after finding seven washed ashore
New South Wales police have issued a warning to the public about packages suspected of containing cocaine washing up on beaches between Sydney and Newcastle.
At least seven packages – with “significant barnacle growth” on the outer plastic wrapping – have been found on beaches since Friday night, and police on Sunday warned people not to open or remove any further finds.
Continue reading...Political leaders also thank emergency services workers in annual Christmas messages
Anthony Albanese has used his annual Christmas message to pay tribute to flood-affected residents in northern Queensland while expressing gratitude to medical and hospitality workers.
The prime minister issued a short video message to the nation on Christmas Eve, wishing Australians well over the holiday period and paying particular tribute to defence force personnel.
Continue reading...Thunderstorm conditions extending from Mackay in Queensland to Melbourne, with BoM warning weather may change quickly
Widespread rain and cloudy weather affecting much of the east coast is expected to continue into Christmas Day, with revellers encouraged to prepare an indoor option for tomorrow’s festivities.
Queensland was lashed with severe thunderstorms on Sunday, with giant hail and huge downpours of up to 43mm in just 15 minutes recorded in northern Brisbane.
Continue reading...Temporary roadside barriers set up to channel tens of millions of crabs migrating to the coastline
The welcome mat has been rolled out for scores of red crabs as they make their annual coastal dash on Christmas Island.
Each year, the first substantial rain of the wet season triggers tens of millions of adult red crabs to leave their forest homes, in the interior of the island, and march towards the coast to mate and spawn.
Continue reading...Authorities say blaze south of the city is under control after homes were lost around Keysbrook
A blaze that destroyed two homes south of Perth has been brought under control, but firefighters are urging people to remain vigilant for bushfire threats.
Seven emergency-level bushfires have engulfed homes and torn through bushland, rural properties and suburbs on Perth’s fringes in the past three days.
Continue reading...Statistics reveal over 2,000 intimate partner homicides from 1989 to 2021, with three in four victims female
More than 60 women have been violently killed this year, many by intimate partners, and experts warn that the holidays are a particularly dangerous time.
Counting Dead Women Australia – which is run by Destroy the Joint researchers – tracks “every known death due to violence against women” and says the number this week reached 62.
Continue reading...Supermarket says there have been no complaints and the New South Wales recall is being done as a ‘precaution’
The chance of metal contamination has led to supermarket giant Woolworths issuing a recall in New South Wales for a batch of a common Christmas treat.
Woolworths said the affected product is Shortcrust Summer Berry Mince Pies, sold in six-packs, with a “best before” date of 13 June 2024.
Continue reading...NSW SES warns heavy rain may cause flash flooding with storms forecast across three states from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day
Residents of Australia’s eastern states have been warned to prepare for severe storms forecast over the Christmas weekend.
Thunderstorms are expected between Christmas Eve and Boxing Day across a broad region, including much of New South Wales and south-east Queensland and spreading down into Victoria.
Continue reading...The weather bureau has issued an extreme fire danger warning for the Burrup district on Saturday
Firefighters on Saturday continued to battle multiple blazes across Western Australia as authorities warn of more “difficult” days ahead.
Seven emergency-level blazes have destroyed homes and torn through bushland, rural properties and suburbs on Perth’s fringes in the past three days.
Continue reading...Exclusive: The apparent error has been occurring for at least three years and has been blamed on a transition to new computer systems
The Department of Veterans’ Affairs has apologised for chasing elderly Australians for alleged pension overpayments and has blamed a systems error for wrongly targeting those aged over 90.
After a Guardian Australia report on the issue, a departmental spokesperson said a number of veterans were incorrectly subjected to compliance reviews, resulting in debt notices.
Continue reading...Those not eligible for Medicare due to their visas to get free hospital care, dental and other services
People fleeing the Israel-Gaza war will receive free healthcare under a Victorian initiative, amid calls for other states to follow suit.
The state’s health minister, Mary-Anne Thomas, will on Saturday announce people fleeing the conflict – who aren’t eligible for Medicare due to their visa – will be able to access essential healthcare, specialised mental health support and language services.
Continue reading...EVs made up just 2% of new car sales in May 2022, but now 8.3% of new car sales in 2023 are battery powered
The climate change minister, Chris Bowen, has welcomed a boom in electric vehicle sales, revealing the number of fast-charging sites has nearly doubled in the last year.
National strategies on electric vehicles are expected to more than double the number of charger stations again within three years, as the federal government seeks to incentivise the use of cleaner cars. New fuel efficiency standards, expected to be outlined in early 2024, are likely to further discourage the sale of higher-emitting vehicles, making electric cars more attractive.
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Continue reading...Curators of new exhibition say decision was made in consultation with artist’s family and dismiss claims move is ‘paternalistic’
Two art world figures pivotal in the career of Australia’s most internationally lauded female painter have spoken out against the decision by the National Gallery of Australia to adopt a new spelling of her name.
The Emily Kam Kngwarray retrospective which opened at the NGA in Canberra earlier this month is the first major exhibition of the artist, who died in 1996, to use the new spelling.
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