Category Archives: Australia news

Vacant property taxes, levies and caps on the table as NSW Labor reviews Airbnbs and short-term rentals

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Exclusive: Minns government to place every aspect of housing ‘under the microscope’ as it confronts rental crisis

Vacant property taxes, levies and annual caps will be considered when the New South Wales government reviews regulation of short-term rentals including Airbnbs over the next six months.

The housing minister, Rose Jackson, who will lead the review, hoped to find ways to move some holiday rentals and unoccupied properties on to the longer-term rental market as the Minns government confronts the state’s chronic housing crisis.

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Coles and Woolworths to face Senate scrutiny amid claims of profiteering

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Greens win support for inquiry into effect of market concentration on food prices and pattern of major chains’ pricing strategies

Australia’s big supermarkets will face fresh scrutiny with a Senate inquiry to investigate their market power and pricing decisions, amid concerns they have profiteered during an inflationary period marked by fast-rising food costs.

The Greens have secured cross-party support to set up the inquiry which will examine the effect of market concentration on food prices and the pattern of pricing strategies employed by the major chains, Coles and Woolworths.

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Australia says AI will be used to help track Chinese submarines under new Aukus plan

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Defence minister Richard Marles and counterparts from the UK and US say new technologies will be deployed by militaries

Artificial intelligence, drones, and deep space radar are among the technologies that will be used by Australia and its Aukus allies to counter China’s aggression in the Pacific.

Australia’s defence minister, Richard Marles, met with his counterparts from the United States and United Kingdom – Lloyd J Austin and Grant Shapps – in California on Saturday to announce the second “pillar” of the Aukus deal.

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Young green sea turtles tracked travelling deep into Sydney harbour and living near humans

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Taronga Wildlife hospital tracked three turtles that had been rescued, with one swimming as far as Longueville

Endangered green sea turtles spend much of their young lives in close proximity to people, including travelling deep within Sydney harbour, new research suggests.

Satellite tracking shows turtles frequenting busy waterways, including the harbour and Parramatta River, around Wollongong harbour, Brisbane Waters near Gosford and up the Hawkesbury River, as far as Cottage Point.

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‘A tsunami of traffic chaos’: the new Sydney motorway prompting calls for a royal commission

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Top expert says bungled opening of Rozelle interchange is bad enough to warrant a formal inquiry into the $20bn WestConnex project

Sydneysiders had been promised “nirvana” would be delivered by the $20bn WestConnex motorway so they are rightly bemused – if not bitter – about how they seem to have ended up in the other place.

The bungled opening of the final stage of WestConnex, the Rozelle interchange, is bad enough that veteran transport experts such as Michelle Zeibots at the University of Technology Sydney say only a royal commission can open the lid on how such debacles can happen.

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Australia and EU in talks about ‘the day after’ war in Gaza and unite on two-state solution

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European Commission vice-president says there must be ‘no role for Hamas in any post-conflict horizon’ during visit to Australia

Australia and the European Union are in talks about “the day after” the war in Gaza and are united on calls to revive a two-state solution, a senior official has said.

But the European Commission vice-president, Margaritis Schinas, added that Hamas had forfeited the right to be part of any political settlement.

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‘Fantastic’ season means high-quality Australian prawns going cheap at Christmas

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Improvements in sustainable aquaculture and good weather conditions result in boon for consumers

Seafood lovers are in for a treat this Christmas with “an abundance” of prawns fuelling reduced prices and industry experts predicting no major cost hikes ahead for the festive season.

The Seafood Industry Australia chief executive, Veronica Papacosta, said Australia has two main prawn sectors – aquaculture prawns, and wild prawns – had both had “fantastic years”.

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Brittany Higgins wore dress she was allegedly raped in to Liberal function weeks later to ‘reclaim it’, court hears

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Former Liberal staffer tells federal court defamation trial she initially thought she could ‘disassociate’ from the alleged rape

Brittany Higgins has told a court she wore the white dress she was allegedly raped in six weeks later to a Liberal function in an attempt to “reclaim it” and “disassociate it from the rape”.

But what was once her “favourite” pencil dress that she “used to wear all the time” was not reclaimed and was never worn again, Higgins told the federal court on Friday.

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Peter V’Landys accuses politicians of ‘outright lies’ as plan to extend Racing NSW chair Russell Balding’s tenure fails

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Racing body will need to scramble to replace chair after Coalition and crossbench team up to try to strengthen oversight

The Racing NSW chief executive, Peter V’Landys, has accused politicians of spreading “outright lies” and “mainly wrong diatribes” during the parliamentary debate that ultimately resulted in the loss of his chairman.

One of the most powerful men in Australian sport, V’Landys is overseen by the Racing NSW board. He has held the position of chief executive for nearly 20 years, 12 of those with Russell Balding as chair.

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Stage set for national cabinet clash over GST – as it happened

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This blog is now closed.

The NSW Australian Paramedics Association will take part in a 12-hour strike today, from 7am to 7pm, despite the threat of legal action.

Members will still attend emergency “lights and sirens” jobs as part of an ongoing pay dispute.

We want to assure the public that emergencies will still be attended to, with our focus intensifying on life-threatening cases.

Our decision to limit responses to non-emergency jobs enhances our capacity to manage critical cases.

Facing potential legal repercussions and a substantial fine of up to $20,000 per day, our commitment remains firm.

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Lehrmann proceedings day seven – as it happened

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This blog is now closed.

Brittany Higgins says she does not count Linda Reynolds and her chief of staff Fiona Brown as villains in her story.

“Fiona Brown was just following instructions and I’ve never blamed her and I don’t blame her,” Higgins said.

“Linda Reynolds avoided me in my view, and did not meet her duty of care. I felt unsupported. I felt unsupported by both of them, but I don’t count them as villains in this story. I just don’t think they did the right thing by me.”

Higgins said her experience damaged her relationship with the Liberal party and she revealed she is no longer a Liberal.

She denied a suggestion from Whybrow that she leaked her story to the media in order to damage the Liberal party ahead of the election.

“I had no intention of impacting the election, but I did want to change the culture in Parliament House,” Higgins said.

“I was angry at the culture of Parliament House and I was hurt by the Liberal party, but I was still a Liberal.

“No longer, but I was still for a really long time.”

• an earlier version of this post incorrectly identified the election referred to as being in 2019

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Plan for 20,000-seat stadium to temporarily replace Gabba kicks off Queensland funding row

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Labor announces it will commit $46m towards $137m cost of upgrading Ekka showgrounds

A proposal to upgrade Brisbane’s showgrounds with a temporary 20,000-seat stadium – to act as the city’s home of AFL and cricket while the Gabba is rebuilt – has quickly become a political football.

The Queensland government announced on Friday it would commit $46m to create the temporary stadium but requested the remaining $91m cost be shared between Brisbane city council, AFL and cricket authorities and the Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland, which runs the annual Ekka show at the venue.

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Victorian ministers to be forced to make diaries public and reveal meetings with lobbyists

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Premier Jacinta Allan announces new ministerial code of conduct, which includes ban on employing family members as staff

Victorian ministers will now have to disclose their meetings with lobbyists as part of reforms long sought by the anti-corruption watchdog to bring the state into line with New South Wales and Queensland.

The premier, Jacinta Allan, on Friday announced a new ministerial code of conduct, which will require ministers and parliamentary secretaries to publish quarterly diary summaries outlining scheduled meetings with lobbyists, stakeholders and other external organisations.

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Queensland Royal Flying Doctor Service backers urged to pressure charity as nurses take industrial action

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Exclusive: Union says RFDS nurses are paid up to 26% less than colleagues in the state despite their demanding work and conditions

The nurses union is asking donors to the Royal Flying Doctor Service to pressure the organisation as part of industrial action against the charity.

It is the first time it has conducted industrial action against the charity in Queensland.

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Industry super funds warn slow transition to net zero puts Australia at risk of losing ‘attractive’ investments

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A new report argues that $12bn a year on average between now and 2050 will be required to transition to renewable energy

Industry super funds have warned the Albanese government that Australia’s energy transition risks falling behind as big funds chase more compelling investment opportunities in the US, UK and Europe.

AustralianSuper, cbus, HostPlus, CareSuper, HESTA and UniSuper have co-authored a new report with Australian fund IFM Investors calling for more favourable investment conditions underwritten by taxpayers to unlock private capital for the domestic transition to net zero emissions.

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Half of pre-mixed alcohol features nutritional claims as industry targets young Australians, study finds

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Exclusive: Researchers say producers of alcoholic drinks ‘intensively using’ health claims in efforts to reverse declining consumption

The alcohol industry is targeting health-conscious younger Australians with nutritional claims such as “low calorie”, “low sugar” and “gluten free” appearing on half of pre-mixed alcoholic drinks, according to new research.

In the first study to assess how frequently health claims are used by the alcohol industry, researchers analysed 491 pre-mixed products found in three major retailers (Dan Murphy’s, Liquorland, BWS) in Sydney.

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More than 20bn tonnes of Co2 could be emitted if Australian fossil fuel projects up for approval go ahead

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Exclusive: Climate groups say projected amount is 10 times greater than estimates of Australia’s remaining fair ‘carbon budget’ if global heating is to be limited to 1.5C

The Australian government will face decisions on whether to greenlight 30 fossil fuel developments, mostly to export coal or gas, that together could result in more than 20bn tonnes of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere.

Climate groups have calculated the potential total climate pollution from fossil fuel developments currently submitted for environmental approval. Including emissions released both during production and when the fossil fuel was ultimately burned for energy – often in overseas power plants – they found the developments could lead to an additional 22bn tonnes of CO2 being pumped into the atmosphere.

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Second Sydney Theatre Company board member resigns in wake of actors’ pro-Palestinian protest

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Third apology issued for cancellation of Wednesday’s performance of The Seagull as foundation member Alex Schuman’s departure is confirmed

The Sydney Theatre Company has issued a third public apology after the on-stage pro-Palestinian protest by several actors during opening night of Chekhov’s The Seagull.

It comes as a second board member resigned.

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Leading brands misled consumers about ‘premium’ dishwashing tablets, Australian court finds

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Procter & Gamble, maker of 30-Minute Miracle and Fairy, and Finish Ultimate Plus manufacturer Reckitt Benckiser engaged in misleading conduct, the federal court ruled

Two big names in the highly competitive Australian dishwashing tablet market violated consumer law with unscientific claims that their premium products were better than others in their own range, a court has found.

Procter & Gamble, the maker of 30-Minute Miracle and Fairy dishwashing tablets, was found to have engaged in misleading conduct, making representations that were liable to give consumers the wrong impression.

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Australia politics live: Albanese says Israel-Hamas war protest at Melbourne hotel ‘beyond contempt’

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Chalmers: ‘We are making some welcome progress in the fight against inflation’

Is Jim Chalmers confident that interest rates could fall from next year?

My job is to focus on this fight against inflation. And we saw overnight from the OECD, we saw from Deloitte Access Economics, we saw in the Bureau of Statistics data which came out yesterday, that we are making some welcome progress in the fight against inflation and that will determine the future directory trajectory of interest rates

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