Category Archives: Australia news

Israeli ambassador ‘very sad’ about rise in antisemitic incidents in Australia

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Amir Maimon urges government ‘to take all necessary measures’ to ensure ‘different people of different faiths’ feel secure

The Israeli ambassador says he is “very sad” about a rise in antisemitic incidents in Australia and has urged the government to “take all necessary measures” to ensure people of different faiths and backgrounds feel safe.

Amir Maimon said that, in particular, he was “so, so upset” about the presence of pro-Palestine protesters at a Melbourne hotel where relatives and friends of Hamas-held hostages were staying last week.

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There are 26 jobseekers for every entry-level position in Australia, report finds

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Anglicare chief says its survey shows more than half a million people are being ‘left behind’, with demand for starter jobs outstripping supply across country

A lack of suitable jobs and a trend towards insecure work is locking hundreds of thousands of people in poverty, according to a new report that finds there are 26 jobseekers for every entry-level position in Australia.

Anglicare’s annual Jobs Snapshot found that of the 26 people out of work for each entry-level position, 18 are technically “long-term” unemployed, meaning they have been out of the workforce for more than 12 months.

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Bracket creep is cooling Australia’s economy – it’s good news for interest rates but not for household budgets

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The weak economy probably means the next RBA rates move – short of an inflation surprise next month – will be a cut

Philip Lowe used his final speech as Reserve Bank governor to call on fiscal policy to “provide a stronger helping hand” in managing inflation so the central bank didn’t have to carry most of the load – and the ire.

“Raising interest rates and tightening policy can make you very unpopular, as I know all too well,” Lowe said on 7 September, 10 days before many battling borrowers cheered him out the door.

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Two people remain in jail for welfare debts that Centrelink may have been calculated unlawfully

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The cases are probably wrongful convictions and prosecutors should facilitate appeals, a legal expert says

Two people are in jail after Centrelink used unlawful calculations to accuse them of overclaiming welfare benefits, a watchdog has revealed.

On Monday the ombudsman released its second report on the income apportionment method, calling on Services Australia to waive 100,000 debts that may have been incorrectly calculated and revealing the “traumatic” impact on those convicted of offences related to welfare debt.

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Offshore oil regulator ‘avoiding scrutiny’ over approval for Woodside blasting and drilling

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Environmental lawyers concerned Nopsema has not published its reasons for approving work at Scarborough gas development

Environmental lawyers have raised concern the offshore petroleum regulator is attempting to avoid scrutiny by not publishing its reasons for approving seismic blasting and drilling for a major fossil fuel development in northern Western Australia.

The National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (Nopsema) granted approval for seismic testing and drilling of up to 10 wells for Woodside’s $16.5bn Scarborough gas development last Friday.

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News Corp agreed to pay Bruce Lehrmann $295,000 to settle defamation claim, court documents reveal

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Payment revealed after ABC agreed to pay him $150,000 and remove Facebook video of Brittany Higgins and Grace Tame speech at National Press Club

News Corp agreed to pay Bruce Lehrmann $295,000 to drop a defamation suit he brought against a news.com article in which Brittany Higgins alleged she had been raped by a Liberal staffer in Parliament House, according to documents filed in the federal court.

The News Corp financial settlement brings to $445,000 the total amount Lehrmann has received towards his legal costs after the ABC agreed to pay $150,000 in an out-of-court settlement last month.

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Australia politics live: Albanese government strikes deals on NDIS, GST and health reform at national cabinet meeting

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Nature repair bill ‘proof’ good-faith negotiations can work, says Bandt

The interview moves to the nature repair bill, which Tanya Plibersek won support for, after making a deal with the Greens. Adam Bandt says it is further proof that good faith negotiations can work:

The Greens pressure has worked. And the Greens have secured some significant wins. There’s been a blow against new gas and oil projects. Previously you could frack areas, so drill down to extract gas, including in farmland, and the government didn’t even have to consider whether that was going to affect our precious water supplies.

We know in many places it would have, that’s why so many farmers have been against fracking.

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Australia’s economic growth slows, reducing chance of another interest rate rise next year

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Economy grows more slowly than expected, with consumer spending flat under the pressure of high interest rates

Australia’s economy surprisingly slowed in the September quarter, as the toll of higher interest rates hit consumers and trade turned negative.

Gross domestic product expanded 0.2% in the September quarter compared with the previous three months, marking an eighth consecutive quarter of growth, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday. Economists had forecast GDP growth would quicken to 0.5% from 0.4% in the June quarter.

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Tropical cyclone Jasper forms off north-east of Cairns as hurricane force winds and heavy rain forecast

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Category one cyclone, which is moving through Coral Sea, may reach the Queensland coast by next week

Australia’s first tropical cyclone of the season has officially formed and is expected to become severe from Thursday, potentially reaching the Queensland coast by next week.

Cyclone Jasper is currently a category one tempest, expected to become severe from Thursday as it tracks through the Coral Sea.

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Australia ends finance for fossil fuel expansion overseas – now focus turns to local subsidies

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Albanese government announces at Cop28 it will phase out offshore support for coal, oil and gas within a year

The Australian government has been praised for joining a global partnership committed to stopping billions of dollars in foreign aid and loans being spent on fossil fuel expansion, but the decision has also prompted renewed calls for it to reconsider polluting subsidies at home.

The Albanese government announced at the Cop28 climate summit that it had joined 40 other countries in signing up to the clean energy transition partnership, an agreement first reached in Glasgow two years ago.

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‘Creeping politicisation’ in Victoria’s public service needs ‘urgent attention’, ombudsman warns

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Ministerial staffers frequently hired in government departments and independent advice ignored, says report which takes aim at Suburban Rail Loop

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Victoria’s ombudsman says there is evidence of “creeping politicisation” in the state’s public service, with ministerial staffers frequently hired in government departments and independent advice ignored.

Referring to a “culture of fear” among staff, Deborah Glass on Wednesday tabled her long-awaited report on the alleged politicisation of the public service, which also takes aim at the government’s Suburban Rail Loop project.

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Electric plane set to deliver mail across New Zealand in decarbonisation push

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Air New Zealand says using the ALIA electric cargo plane to deliver parcels will help plot route towards zero-emissions passenger flights in a ‘new age of propulsion’

Parcels and letters will soon be distributed by electric aircraft between regions of New Zealand as the sparsely populated country embarks on a “new age of propulsion” in its attempts to decarbonise its reliance on aviation.

On Wednesday, Air New Zealand announced it had purchased a battery-powered, all-electric five seater cargo aircraft, which will be put to use running mail between airports with New Zealand’s postal service from 2026.

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Elective surgery wait times balloon to record high across Australia, data shows

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Nearly one in 10 patients are waiting longer than a year to be admitted, according to Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

Elective surgery wait times are at their highest level on record, while nearly one in two patients are spending more than the recommended time in emergency departments, new data shows.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfareon Wednesday released figures on public hospital performance from July 2022 to June 2023 that the Australian Medical Association said “paints a grim picture” of hospitals struggling more than ever.

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Brittany Higgins volunteered to be defamation trial witness as she ‘would not let rapist become a millionaire’, court hears

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Higgins also tells court she had ‘no issue’ with a second criminal trial but it was ruled out by her medical condition

Brittany Higgins has told the federal court she volunteered to give evidence in any defamation case brought by her alleged rapist Bruce Lehrmann because she “would not let my rapist become a millionaire for being a rapist”.

On her final day in the witness box Higgins was asked by Lehrmann’s barrister, Steve Whybrow SC, why she posted on social media about defending any defamation cases six days after it was announced charges against Lehrmann had been dropped due to fears about her mental health.

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Channel Seven paid $4,000 a fortnight in rent for Bruce Lehrmann interview, documents reveal

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Document uploaded by the federal court suggests former Liberal staffer’s deal with the network may be worth $104,000

Channel Seven paid Bruce Lehrmann’s fortnightly rent of $4,000 for a period in June for exclusive access to the former Liberal staffer, according to documents uploaded by the federal court.

Seven agreed in a separate exclusivity document, which was also uploaded on Tuesday, to pay Lehrmann’s rent for 12 months in return for exclusive access to him from mid-2023 to mid-2024.

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Labor and Greens strike deal to establish nature repair scheme

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Legislation being debated in the Senate will create a market to encourage private spending on projects that protect and restore biodiversity

The Albanese government and Greens have struck a deal to establish a nature repair scheme in exchange for fast tracking an expansion of the water trigger to all unconventional gas projects.

The deal would also prevent trades in a new nature market from being used as offsets for other destruction of habitat.

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Jim Chalmers open to clean energy investment reforms pushed by super funds

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Treasurer says government ‘committed to consider’ proposals, including concessional finance to bankroll new transmission infrastructure

Jim Chalmers has signalled the Albanese government is open to considering sweeping reforms being championed by industry superannuation funds to unlock billions in private capital to fund Australia’s clean energy transition.

After meeting on Tuesday with banks, venture capital firms, super funds and investor groups in Canberra, the treasurer told journalists he had committed to consider specific measures proposed by AustralianSuper, cbus, HostPlus, CareSuper, Hesta, UniSuper and the behemoth Australian fund IFM Investors.

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Tropical Cyclone Jasper: first of the summer forms off Queensland coast

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Cyclone formed on Tuesday afternoon and is forecast to intensify and may cross into Queensland next week

A tropical low weather system off Queensland’s coast has formed into the first cyclone of the summer.

Cyclone Jasper was located about 305km west of Honiara and 1,500km north-east of Cairns at 4pm Tuesday AEST, the Bureau of Meteorology said, describing the system as “slow moving”.

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Teachers to get training to deal with poor behaviour in Australian classrooms but experts say more must be done

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Government reveals $3.5m plan to reduce disruption but Greens say focus should be on socioeconomic and psychosocial challenges facing students

One in three educators are losing teaching time due to disruption, with experts calling for more to be done to address rising rates of poor behaviour in Australian classrooms.

According to the OECD’s disciplinary climate index, Australian classrooms are among the world’s most disorderly, affecting teacher safety and work satisfaction and school-leaving results.

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Kangaroo punches police officer as it is captured after weekend on the run in Canada

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The animal escaped handlers during a rest stop in Ontario while being transported to a zoo in Quebec

A kangaroo that escaped its handlers during transport to a new home has been captured east of Toronto after a weekend in the wild, but not before delivering a punch in the face to one of the police officers who brought her run to an end.

The female kangaroo hopped over her handlers late on Thursday during a rest stop at the Oshawa Zoo and Fun Farm in Ontario, the park’s head keeper Cameron Preyde told CBC.

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