Category Archives: Australia news

Schoolies tragedy: South Australian police commissioner’s teenage son on life support after being hit by car

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Grant Stevens’ son Charlie suffers irreversible brain injury, with police alleging car’s 18-year-old driver failed to stop

The son of South Australia’s police commissioner is on life support after being struck by a car while on schoolies celebrations, in an alleged hit-and-run incident.

Charlie Stevens, 18, sustained an irreversible brain injury after being run down on Friday night in Goolwa, about 90km south-east of Adelaide, SA’s police deputy commissioner, Linda Williams, told reporters.

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Australian naval divers injured after being subjected to Chinese warship’s sonar pulses

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Acting prime minister criticises Chinese ship’s ‘unsafe and unprofessional conduct’ after Australian sailors had requested it stay clear

Australian naval divers have been injured after an “unsafe and unprofessional” run-in with a Chinese warship.

The acting prime minister, Richard Marles, on Saturday said the Australian government had expressed “serious concerns” to Chinese officials after the HMAS Toowoomba encountered a People’s Liberation Army-Navy destroyer on Tuesday.

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‘Nobody cared’: Victim’s ‘betrayal’ over revelations at Victoria’s school child sexual abuse inquiry

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Victim-survivor shocked by education department’s admission it moved accused paedophile teachers to other state schools

When the dark history of Victoria’s education department was laid bare this week in public hearings, Glen Fearnett sat metres away from bureaucrats as they divulged the state’s failings to protect children.

Fearnett is a victim-survivor of abuse and has been central in pushing for a formal apology for the abuse he and other victim-survivors suffered at Beaumaris primary school, in Melbourne’s south-east.

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Pink linen, bubbles and 14 ‘mirages’: AI ranked this Sydney bar most influential in the world – is it worth the hype?

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An elegant Rat Pack theme and constant clatter of shaking ice cubes proves a winning combination for Maybe Sammy

Remember Tom Cruise and Bryan Brown gyrating in sync, flicking rum bottles and iced glasses in the air before a throng of permed and adoring city slickers?

Well, this isn’t exactly like a scene from Cocktail – there’s not a single perm in central Sydney in 2023. But the rest of the Maybe Sammy experience? It’s got the moves.

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Melbourne has waited decades for an airport train. But is a federal funding commitment enough to get it done?

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Unlike governments interstate, Jacinta Allan was uncharacteristically subdued about Canberra’s funding review

Throughout her decades in politics, Jacinta Allan hasn’t been afraid to pick a fight with the federal government – no matter which party was in power.

But on Thursday, when the Albanese government announced it would cut $4.8bn worth of infrastructure funding in Victoria after a months-long review, the premier was uncharacteristically subdued.

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How big are the fires burning in Australia’s north? Interactive map shows they’ve burned an area larger than Spain

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La Niña, invasive grass and land management practices are all factors in the larger-than-average bushfires that have burned an area bigger than Spain. This interactive map shows the total area burned, overlaid on different capital cities

Huge bushfires have burned a significant amount of northern Australia in recent months, with the collective area burned larger than many countries, including Spain.

Experts say the massive fires are primarily due to a higher-than-average fuel load built up over the recent wet La Niña years, with an invasive grass species also contributing to more intense burns.

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Ten metres high and 10 tonnes: Louise Bourgeois’ giant spider crawls into Sydney

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Titled Maman, the bronze, steel and marble arachnid will be the looming centrepiece of the Art Gallery of NSW’s major summer exhibition

Looming over the sandstone steps of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, a giant spider is redirecting foot traffic.

The giant spider, titled Maman, is one of the late French-American artist Louise Bourgeois’ most renowned – and most outsized – works, towering at almost 10m at its highest point and sprawling just as wide. When I visit on the final day of installation, it is cordoned off – though at regular intervals, visitors peer through the gaps to gawp at the spindly creation within. People take photos from various angles in an effort to bypass the fence; others, circumnavigating the sculpture, end up down back alleys trying to find their way back.

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No beds and lack of nurses: how Anne Pedler’s last hours were spent ramped in an ambulance

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Exclusive: Australian Medical Association finds people spending more time waiting outside hospitals amid ‘unforeseen levels of ramping’

The last hours of Anne Pedler’s life were spent in an ambulance ramped outside Launceston general hospital because no bed was available for the 71-year-old.

Pedler arrived at the hospital at 12.45am on 6 August 2022 with a diagnosis of a pulmonary embolism – a sudden blockage of the vessels responsible for sending blood to the lungs. Despite being triaged as urgent, Pedler was still ramped at 8.30am – when she suffered cardiopulmonary arrest.

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WA government fails to back up premier’s claim expanding gas industry will be good for planet

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Western Australian government declines to say whether Roger Cook’s claims backed by publicly available government or third-party analysis

The Western Australian government has produced no evidence to back up a claim that expanding the state’s gas industry – and increasing its greenhouse gas pollution in the short term – will be good for the planet as it will lead to a “dramatic reduction” in global emissions.

The premier, Roger Cook, made the claim at a media conference on Thursday. Cook made similar arguments at a WA energy transition summit on Friday, when speakers including the federal resources minister, Madeleine King, backed the development of new gas reserves alongside renewable energy and critical minerals.

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Labor’s emergency laws after immigration detention ruling may amount to ‘extrajudicial’ punishment

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Legal experts say constitutional challenges to new laws are likely as Labor braces for possible compensation claims following high court decision

A legal challenge to emergency legislation responding to the high court’s decision on indefinite detention is likely, with advocates warning the Albanese government the changes may be unconstitutional.

Alison Battisson, the director of Human Rights For All, and David Manne, the executive director of Refugee Legal, have both warned the changes may amount to “extrajudicial” punishment.

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Queensland Muslims ask for police protection over New Zealand far-right activist’s pro-Israel protest

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Destinys Church founder Brian Tamaki says his event will include 200 men performing the haka and a speech from Avi Yemini

Queensland Muslims say they are fearful and have requested police protection after a New Zealand far-right activist scheduled a pro-Israel protest for the same central Brisbane location – but an hour earlier – than a planned pro-Palestine rally on Sunday.

The “Anzacs” rally in Brisbane is being promoted by Brian Tamaki, who is the founder of Destiny Church and has a history of Islamophobic comments.

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Australia news live: school strike for climate protests draw huge crowds in Melbourne and Sydney; Albanese says Apec leaders ‘very interested’ in Tuvalu deal

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‘A ceasefire is where we need to get to,’ Zoe Daniel says

Asked by RN Breakfast host Patricia Karvelas if she supports calls for a ceasefire, Zoe Daniel says:

If you call for a ceasefire, you’re letting down the Jewish community, if you don’t you’re allowing death and destruction to happen in Gaza.

At the end of the day, if I say to you right now, yes, I support ceasefire, that will make zero difference to what is happening in in Gaza.

I’m a former foreign correspondent. I know the logistics of this, of course, a ceasefire is where we need to get to, but you have a terrorist organisation in the middle of this. If there’s just a ceasefire, and there’s no capacity there to try to dismantle Hamas, does that allow Hamas to regroup? What does that actually lead to? That said, I’ve said to you before, very clearly, and I still stick to the position that the Israeli government has to adhere to international law and the rules of war, and I think, in some ways, has not been.

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Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin faces Senate grilling as Singtel denies it was to blame for outage

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Optus claimed on its parent company’s Singtel Internet Exchange was responsible, but Singtel says its upgrade was not the cause

The Optus chief executive, Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, faces a grilling at a Senate hearing on Friday over the telco’s handling of last week’s 14-hour nationwide outage as both Optus and its parent company Singtel dispute who was to blame.

Bayer Rosmarin will be facing the Senate committee, chaired by the Greens communications spokesperson, Sarah Hanson-Young, over two hours on Friday morning in the inquiry launched shortly after the Optus outage last week.

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Girl, 12, charged with murder over fatal stabbing of woman in Melbourne

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Victoria police say 37-year-old was found dead just before 2am on Thursday in an inner Melbourne suburb

A 12-year-old girl has been charged with murder after a fatal stabbing in Melbourne.

Emergency services were called to an apartment in an inner-city suburb after a 37-year-old woman was found dead just before 2am on Thursday.

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Nigel Farage to be dumped in middle of Australian outback for I’m a Celebrity

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Divisive Brexiter will be tasked with helping fellow contestants 2,000 miles away on Gold Coast

Nigel Farage will be stranded in the middle of the Australian outback when I’m A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here! gets under way.

He will be one of three unsuspecting stars who will be dropped in the red desert in the scorching heat and tasked with helping his campmates thousands of miles away.

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Albanese government to consider further whistleblower protections amid calls for ‘robust’ dedicated authority

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Federal attorney general releases new consultation paper as the government moves toward releasing a second stage of public interest disclosure reforms

The federal government will consider whether whistleblowers should be protected for gathering evidence before disclosing possible wrongdoing, amid criticisms existing laws are not doing enough.

The need for a standalone whistleblower protection authority, and a financial reward system for those coming forward, are also issues up for consideration shortly before Christmas.

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Labor veteran joins criticism over proposed mandatory sentencing changes after high court decision

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Former senator Kim Carr says Albanese government’s planned bridging visa changes will undermine judicial independence and lead to unjust outcomes

Labor veteran Kim Carr has criticised the government’s “deeply disturbing” decision to sign up to mandatory minimum sentences in a deal to pass bridging visa changes with Coalition support.

The move – announced by the acting prime minister, Richard Marles, on Thursday – contradicts Labor’s national platform, which states that the party “opposes mandatory sentencing” because it “undermines the independence of the judiciary, leads to unjust outcomes and is often discriminatory in practice”.

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Refugees in PNG told they will be evicted next week after Australian-sponsored housing bills not paid

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Australian-funded humanitarian program has not funded housing, food and medical services for over a year, providers say

Refugees and asylum seekers held by Australia in Papua New Guinea for 10 years will be evicted from their accommodation in a week – and have their groceries, medical and security services cut – because the bills for their accommodation, healthcare and food have not been paid for more than a year.

Many of the 64 men have been living without electricity, and some without food, for more than two weeks.

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Flight delay compensation would stop Australian airlines from acting like a ‘mafia of the skies’, MP says

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Exclusive: Independent MP Monique Ryan ramps up calls for proposed scheme after Sydney airport CEO accuses airlines of ‘slot hoarding’

Australian airlines are acting like a “mafia of the sky” in continuing to strategically cancel flights they never intended to operate, an MP has claimed, arguing for the urgent introduction of compensation laws so carriers are deterred by immediate penalties.

Monique Ryan, the independent member for Kooyong in Melbourne, has ramped up her calls for a mandatory compensation scheme for airline passengers, saying allegations levelled by Sydney airport this week showed such laws were needed as a matter of urgency and could not wait until the government’s aviation white paper, which is due by the middle of next year.

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Labor accused of caving to Dutton to pass ‘draconian’ bill restricting people released from immigration detention

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The Albanese government has agreed to a raft of Coalition amendments, including criminal penalties for breaching restrictions

Labor has been accused of caving to Peter Dutton after it agreed to a slate of Coalition amendments to toughen restrictions on people released from detention so as to pass “draconian” emergency legislation on bridging visas.

The bill, introduced on Thursday by the immigration minister, Andrew Giles, adds conditions, including electronic monitoring and curfews, to bridging visas issued to those who are required to be released due to the high court’s ruling on indefinite detention.

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