Category Archives: Australia news

Two people charged after abducting two-year-old boy from Coffs Harbour

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Toddler later found almost 300km away in Tenterfield after police issued an amber alert

Two people, a woman and a man, have been charged with the alleged abduction of a toddler on the far north coast of New South Wales.

An amber alert was issued late on Friday after a 61-year-old woman was allegedly injured outside an office in Coffs Harbour, and the two-year-old boy taken away by the man.

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Sixth former immigration detainee arrested in Melbourne for allegedly breaking curfew

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Government scrambles to respond to last month’s high court ruling which led to the release of at least 148 detainees

A sixth former immigration detainee has been arrested in Melbourne after being released due to last month’s high court ruling.

A 36-year-old Eritrean-born man was arrested after allegedly failing to comply with a curfew, the Australian federal police said in a statement on Friday night.

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Sydney bakes in 43C temperatures and heatwave conditions; southerly change expected from 6pm – as it happened

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‘Climate change a threat to people’s health as well as to our environment,’ Albanese says amid heatwave

Speaking at a press conference in Sydney, prime minister Anthony Albanese said the current heatwave is “a reminder that there just might be something in this climate change stuff”.

We have experienced 2023 as the hottest year on record. We continue to break these records, and that’s why my government’s determined to act on climate change.

Today, with the high heat levels, I do say that it’s a time to ensure that we look after each other and stay safe.

We need to have our migration levels brought to a sustainable level and we will be releasing details of that this week.

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The defamation trial gripping Australia: Bruce Lehrmann, Brittany Higgins and the witnesses so far

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An allegation of rape, fiercely denied, in a ministerial office is being interrogated by weeks of testimony and cross-examination in a defamation trial brought by the accused

It has become one of Australia’s most convoluted and damaging political sagas, polarising the public.

An allegation of rape, fiercely denied, in a ministerial office in Parliament House has been discussed in news reports, interviews, speeches, and reams of commentary. It was examined in an aborted criminal trial, covered in four separate inquiries and now the first of several related civil cases is again calling witnesses and poring over evidence.

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Chris Bowen backs ‘a big step forward’ on phasing out fossil fuels at Cop28

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Australia’s climate minister flags difficulties around any final wording but hails ‘important symbol’ as talks intensify in Dubai

Chris Bowen has indicated Australia may be willing to back a global commitment at the Cop28 climate summit to phase out fossil fuels.

The Australian climate change minister has also flagged that position may be unlikely to be adopted at the meeting in the United Arab Emirates unless it was attached to the word “unabated” – a controversial and undefined term usually taken to mean fossil fuels can continue if they are cutting their pollution through the use of carbon capture and storage (CCS).

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Transurban hits back at claim it is ‘hiding in the shadows’ amid commuter anger over Sydney’s $3.9bn Rozelle interchange

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Exclusive: Private tolling giant defends itself against Inner West mayor’s accusation it is ‘staying stubbornly silent’ as road users vent frustration

Private tolling behemoth Transurban has spoken out amid community anger over the bungled opening of Sydney’s $3.9bn Rozelle interchange as it finds itself in a stoush with the Inner West council mayor over who should fix the mess.

Transurban used its first public comments since the “spaghetti junction” opened on 19 November to defend its conduct in the wake of widespread commuter frustration, particularly among people who live on the Balmain peninsula.

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Australian government spent $52m more on welfare calculator after finding a more effective alternative

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Services Australia paid Infosys almost $200m over four years before technology was written off as a failure

The federal government spent $52m on a failing welfare calculator even after being told there was a more accurate, simple and reliable option available.

In all, Services Australia paid $191m over four years to the multinational company Infosys for a calculator that processed only 784 aged care claims before being written off as a failure in late July.

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Australia’s freedom of information system ‘dysfunctional and broken’, inquiry finds

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Senate panel’s Labor members disagree with report, saying opposition-led probe failed to acknowledge Coalition’s ‘longstanding attempts to weaken’ FoI laws

Australia’s freedom of information regime has become “dysfunctional and broken” after years of funding and resourcing neglect and chronic backlogs caused in part by a pro-secrecy culture within the bureaucracy, a Senate committee has found.

The recent resignation of the freedom of information commissioner, who was less than 12 months into a five-year term, has also been described as a “symptom” of the troubles faced by the system designed to make federal government processes transparent.

The watchdog has been facing increasing scrutiny in recent years as a result of an ever-growing backlog of requests to review FoI decisions, hampered by bureaucratic and legislative roadblocks.

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Australia news live: Daniel Andrews fires up over ‘Dictator Dan’ moniker; festival-goers warned about heatwave conditions

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Former Victorian premier gives first interview after resignation, saying ‘the haters hate and the rest vote Labor’. Follow the day’s news live

James Ashby to stand for One Nation in Queensland seat

James Ashby, the chief of staff to One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, will stand for the party in the seat of Keppel at next year’s Queensland state election, AAP reports.

The Nationals are dead in Queensland’s parliament while the Liberals are lurching further left in their attempts to secure inner-Brisbane seats.

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Melbourne’s Anna Schwartz gallery drops artist Mike Parr after political piece on Israel-Gaza war

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Gallery owner, who has represented Parr for 36 years, says she was sickened by ‘hate graffiti’ in the work, but denies censoring it and has kept it on display

The Melbourne gallery owner Anna Schwartz has dropped the provocative performance artist Mike Parr after a 36-year relationship, after a piece commenting on Israel’s military action in Gaza.

Schwartz sent Parr a two-sentence email on Sunday, the day after he installed the third part of his exhibition Sunset Claws, informing him she would no longer represent him.

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Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial live: lipreader allowed to testify about what Lehrmann, Brittany Higgins and others said in bar CCTV footage

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Lehrmann is suing Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson in the federal court of Australia for defamation. Follow the latest news and updates from the trial today

Before the lunch break Justice Lee is hearing legal argument about the admissibility of evidence from two experts called by the defence.

One is a lip-reading expert based in the UK who has watched the CCTV footage from the Dock and interpreted what the subjects were saying.

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‘A new low’: police believe gasmask-clad graverobbers sought to intimidate Melbourne gangland rival

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Victoria police say theft may not be only motive of two men who targeted coffin of Meshilin Marrogi, the sister of George Marrogi

An attempt to remove a body from a Melbourne mausoleum was part of a plot by an underworld figure to disturb a gangland rival, police believe.

Detectives confirmed on Friday that it was suspected two men who committed the offence had been trying to remove the corpse of Meshilin Marrogi to cause “friction and hurt” to her imprisoned brother, George Marrogi.

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Mother of four-year-old boy found dead in Queensland pool charged with murder

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Tarrin-Macen O’Sullivan’s mother charged with murder more than two years after son found dead in back yard pool in Munbura near Mackay

The mother of a four-year-old boy found dead in a back yard pool in regional Queensland has been charged with murder.

Tarrin-Macen O’Sullivan was discovered after emergency services responded to a call about a child drowning in August 2021.

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Daniel Andrews fires up over ‘Dictator Dan’ moniker and Sky News After Dark ‘bullshit’

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Former Victorian premier hits back at ‘haters’, including those who labelled him a ‘control freak’ and ‘dictator’, in first interview since leaving politics

Daniel Andrews has lashed “absolute pretenders” in the media, derided Sky News Australia’s “after dark bullshit” and says he doesn’t care if people call him a “dictator”, in his first interview after his resignation.

In the long-ranging interview on the Socially Democratic podcast, hosted by former Labor campaigner Stephen Donnelly, the former Victorian premier also hit back at suggestions he was a “control freak” and that the public service had been politicised.

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Australia to train Papua New Guinea police as two nations strike new security deal

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PNG prime minister, James Marape, said the historic deal did not mean his country was picking between China and the west

Australia will help train Papua New Guinea police as part of a wide-ranging security deal signed on Thursday.

The prime minister of PNG, James Marape, said the “historic” deal did not mean his country was picking between China and the west at a time of growing rivalry for influence across the Pacific.

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Bruce Lehrmann had ‘bad vibes’ and wasn’t someone former colleague wanted to spend time with, court hears

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Nikita Irvine also says Brittany Higgins seemed ‘sad’ and told her about alleged assault in Parliament House

Bruce Lehrmann’s former colleague, an aide-de-camp for the senator Linda Reynolds, has told the federal court she had “bad vibes” about him based on her “women’s intuition”.

The army major, Nikita Irvine, also said she discussed Brittany Higgins’ allegation of sexual assault against Lehrmann with both Reynolds and her chief of staff, Fiona Brown.

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Young man dies five days after ‘tragic accident’ left him buried in sand on Queensland island

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Man, 23, succumbs to injuries and dies after falling into hole and becoming trapped in sand on Bribie Island north of Brisbane

A man who was buried in sand on a Queensland island has died from his injuries.

The 23-year-old was airlifted to hospital after he fell into a large hole and became trapped in the sand on Bribie Island, north of Brisbane, on Saturday.

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Cyclone Jasper gradually intensifying, with region between Cooktown and Mackay at ‘highest risk’

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Slow-moving tropical cyclone forecast to strengthen before weakening slightly and heading for Queensland next week

Cyclone Jasper is gradually intensifying as it moves towards the Queensland coast.

The severe tropical cyclone is expected to strengthen further and move from category 3 to category 4 on Thursday night or during Friday, the Bureau of Meteorology said.

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Linda Reynolds sues ACT government and former chief prosecutor

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Liberal senator says widely reported letter by Shane Drumgold to AFP caused significant ‘loss and damage’

Liberal senator Linda Reynolds has launched another high-profile defamation action, this time against the ACT government and former chief prosecutor Shane Drumgold.

A writ lodged in the West Australian supreme court on Monday says Drumgold sent a letter accusing the senator of “disturbing conduct” during Bruce Lehrmann’s rape trial.

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Final question time of the year – as it happened

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MPs don casual wear for late-night sitting

Given the late sitting (the house has been doing “family friendly” hours for most of the year, which has made sittings past 8pm or 8.30pm rare) there were a few more casual looks on the benches than we are used to.

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