Category Archives: Australia news

Australia’s first formal treaty with Indigenous traditional owners passed in Victoria

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Step towards reconciliation hailed as ‘a historic moment’ with premier Jacinta Allan saying it gives Aboriginal Australians the power to shape policies that affect their lives

The Australian state of Victoria has taken a historic step towards reconciliation, passing the nation’s first formal treaty with Indigenous traditional owners.

After two days of debate, the upper house of Victoria’s parliament passed the statewide treaty bill without amendment by 21 votes to 16, just before 9pm on Thursday.

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Paint me cool: scientists reveal roof coating that can reduce surface temperatures up to 6C on hot days

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Sydney researchers commercialising a product they say can cool indoor spaces and will cost little more than standard premium paints

Australian scientists have developed roof coatings that can passively cool surfaces up to 6C below ambient temperature, as well as extract water from the atmosphere, which they say could reduce indoor temperatures during extreme heat events.

Heatwaves are becoming more intense, more frequent and more deadly due to human-caused global heating.

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Queensland to create public register of sex offenders as Daniel Morcombe’s parents ‘hope it will go national’

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Bruce and Denise Morcombe call on other states to act as LNP passes ‘Daniel’s law’, allowing public naming of some child sexual abusers

Queensland parliament has passed laws to create the state’s first public register of some child sexual abusers, with the new legislation named in memory of child murder victim Daniel Morcombe.

The move adds momentum to a campaign by Daniel’s parents, Bruce and Denise Morcombe, for a national register. The couple founded the child safety education charity the Daniel Morcombe Foundation after the murder of their 13-year-old son in 2003 by paedophile Brett Peter Cowan.

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State disability ministers threaten Butler with boycott over two-minute speaking limit at NDIS meeting

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Ministers say they will reconsider their attendance at the meeting if they get at least 10 minutes each

State and territory disability ministers have threatened to boycott an upcoming NDIS meeting with the Albanese government after being given just two minutes to contribute to discussions.

In a joint letter from all jurisdictions sent on Thursday to the health and disability minister, Mark Butler, and the NDIS minister, Jenny McAllister, ministers warned they were “no longer able to confirm” their attendance at the meeting next Friday unless given the opportunity to “meaningfully contribute”.

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New record as Senate question time blows out into chaotic marathon over transparency fight

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Labor government loses control of chamber and threatens to strip Coalition members from parliamentary committees

In chaotic Senate scenes, Labor has set a 125-year record by keeping question time running for more than three hours, after the government lost control of the chamber and threatened to strip Coalition members from parliamentary committees in a fight over transparency.

Senator David Pocock led a push to dramatically extend question time and force ministers to answer more questions, with the Coalition, Greens and crossbench defying the government to force changes to long-held conventions and rules in the upper house. It was a rare move which Labor minister Murray Watt labelled a “dummy spit”.

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Donald Trump praises ‘great’ Washington meeting with Anthony Albanese as leaders dine at Apec

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US president tells reporters he and Australian PM ‘working on a lot of things together’

After waiting a long time to meet Donald Trump, Anthony Albanese has now done so twice in 10 days, as his US counterpart talks up cooperation on rare earths and other issues.

Albanese followed last week’s trip to Washington by sitting next to the US president on Wednesday evening at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit dinner in Gyeongju, South Korea.

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News Corp had no first-hand source suggesting Sam Groth’s wife underage at start of relationship, MP’s lawyer tells court

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Australia’s new privacy laws to be tested as Victorian Liberal MP and wife Brittany Groth sue over Herald Sun articles

A News Corp journalist had “not one piece of information” to suggest the deputy Victorian Liberal leader, Sam Groth, began a relationship with his wife when she was underage, the MP’s lawyers have told a court.

In what a federal court judge described as a “test case” for Australia’s new privacy laws, Groth and his wife, Brittany, are suing the Herald and Weekly Times (HWT), reporter Stephen Drill and the Herald Sun’s editor, Sam Weir, over a series of articles published in July.

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Watchdog clears Pauline Hanson’s use of taxpayer funds to attend Gina Rinehart’s birthday party

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Hanson’s office cites meetings with industry representatives and a One Nation party executive who later changed his name to Aussie Trump

Parliament’s expenses watchdog has cleared Pauline Hanson over using taxpayer funds to attend Gina Rinehart’s birthday party, after an eight-month investigation in which Hanson explained she had travelled to Perth to meet a new One Nation MP who later changed his name to “Aussie Trump”.

Hanson’s office told the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (Ipea) she held meetings with Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting over environmental legislation during the March 2024 trip, as well as attending the same birthday party and celebration which former opposition leader Peter Dutton reportedly visited for just an hour.

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Woman who overturned Queensland’s puberty blocker ban ‘not backing away from the fight’ after LNP reinstates it

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Exclusive: Parent who successfully challenged previous ban on children being prescribed hormones for gender dysphoria considers new lawsuit

The mother of a transgender child who successfully sued to overturn Queensland’s ban on puberty blockers and hormone treatments for children with gender dysphoria says she is “not backing away from the fight” after the government reinstated the ban hours after her supreme court victory.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is considering launching another lawsuit to overturn the health minister’s decision on Tuesday evening to issue a new order preventing patients under 18 and not already on a treatment plan from accessing the drugs in the public system.

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Shark feeding frenzy spotted near shore at popular Australian surf beach

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‘Wonderful’ for people to see the predators so close and feasting on bait fish at the Gold Coast’s Rainbow Bay, near Snapper Rocks, expert says

A shiver of sharks has been spotted feeding close to shore near a popular surfing spot on the Gold Coast on Australia’s east coast.

The large group of predators surprised spectators on the southern end of Rainbow Bay on Tuesday, near the renowned Snapper Rocks surf break.

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AFP developing AI tool to decode gen Z slang amid warning about ‘crimefluencers’ hunting girls

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AFP commissioner Krissy Barrett says online crime networks of young boys and men are targeting vulnerable teen and preteen girls

Australian federal police will develop an AI tool to decode gen Z and Alpha slang and emojis in an effort to crackdown on sadistic online exploitation and “crimefluencers”.

The AFP commissioner, Krissy Barrett, will use a speech at the National Press Club on Wednesday to warn of the rise of online crime networks of young boys and men who are targeting vulnerable teen and preteen girls.

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Beachside apartments deemed ‘affordable’ cost $1,000 a week. Is the NSW policy helping renters or developers?

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Developers flock to build ‘affordable’ housing – but are poised to reap benefits while tenants could pay 50% of post-tax income in rent

A small block of units on Clovelly Road built in 2021 was granted extra floor space so the developer could add five affordable units, taking the total development to 13. The Sydney units, three minutes’ walk from the beach, with parking and a bus stop outside, are in a highly desirable spot.

But “affordable” they are not.

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‘Dreadful wrongs’: WA governor apologises to Noongar people for 1834 Pinjarra massacre

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Between 15 and 80 Binjareb Noongar people were killed in the massacre which was led by the then WA governor, James Stirling

Warning: This article contains historical records that use racist and offensive language, and descriptions of events that will be distressing to some readers. It also contains references to Indigenous Australians who have died

Almost 200 years ago, a state governor led a massacre of at least 15 Aboriginal people.

On Tuesday, Western Australia’s current governor, Chris Dawson, went to the massacre site, south of Perth, with a different intent.

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All fail Caesar: students at eight schools taught wrong topic for final year 12 history exam

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Queensland checking all 172 schools sitting exam with pupils expected to claim special consideration after studying the wrong Roman emperor

Year 12 students from at least eight schools in Queensland were taught the wrong topic for their final history exams and authorities are now checking with 172 schools to see if any more were affected.

Students were meant to study Julius Caesar, but the affected pupils instead learned about his nephew Augustus, according to the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority.

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Jacinta Nampijinpa Price ‘didn’t care’ about making false claims, defamation trial told

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The Liberal senator ‘tarnished’ reputation of Central Land Council chief, court hears, but she says there was public interest

A Liberal senator accused of defaming the head of a large Aboriginal land council was an evasive witness who made baseless allegations and gave “illogical and self-serving” answers, a court has been told.

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has been sued by Central Land Council chief executive, Lesley Turner, over an allegedly defamatory media release in July 2024 that claimed there had been a failed no-confidence motion against him.

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Queensland puberty blocker ban reinstated by health minister hours after supreme court overturned it

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Move comes after parent successfully challenged LNP’s previous ban on new patients under 18 accessing hormone treatments for gender dysphoria

The Queensland health minister has issued a new order banning the prescription of puberty blockers for transgender patients, just hours after the state’s supreme court ruled the government’s first attempt was unlawful.

On Tuesday, Justice Peter Callaghan ruled in favour of a challenge by the parent of a transgender child, judging that the January directive establishing the ban was made improperly and was unlawful.

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Expanded state powers on fossil fuel projects and water ‘betrayal’ of Australians, nature law critics say

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Extracts of planned changes to the EPBC Act prompt ‘anger’ from conservation organisations that fear nature protection will be weakened

State governments could be given expanded powers to make decisions on fossil fuel developments under Labor’s proposed overhaul of environment law, prompting “shock and anger” from community-based conservation organisations that fear nature protection would be weakened.

The Albanese government plans to introduce its planned changes to the national law – the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act – to parliament later this week, and has been briefing interest groups on its plans.

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First person arrives on Nauru triggering Australia’s $2.5bn deal with island nation

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Deal between federal government and Nauru expected to last 30 years and apply to around 350 people released under high court’s NZYQ ruling

Australia has commenced its $2.5bn deal with Nauru to offload more than 350 people from the NZYQ cohort after the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, confirmed the first arrival had landed on the tiny Pacific island last week.

Burke said Nauruan authorities had confirmed the arrival on Friday, as reported by the ABC, triggering the first yearly instalment of $408m.

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Woman arrested after allegedly sabotaging gas supplies at two Sydney hospitals

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NSW police allege 42-year-old ‘cut water and gas mains’ at first hospital in Sutherland before switching off gas mains at nearby facility

A woman has been arrested after allegedly sabotaging gas supplies at two Sydney hospitals.

Sutherland hospital in southern Sydney lost medical gases on Tuesday morning, requiring them to switch to portable oxygen and air as part of their contingency plans, the New South Wales health minister, Ryan Park, said in a statement

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Cobar: two people killed in Endeavour mine explosion in far western NSW

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Woman and man confirmed dead and another woman airlifted to hospital after blast at underground Endeavour mine 600km north-west of Sydney

Two people have been killed by an explosion at an underground mine in the far west of New South Wales.

Police said emergency services were called to the mine on Endeavour Mine Road at Cobar, about 600km north-west of Sydney, at about 3.45am on Tuesday after being told two people had been critically injured in a workplace incident.

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