Category Archives: Australia news

Emissions of Beetaloo Basin gas projects ‘significantly underestimated’ by government, analysis finds

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Climate Analytics says onshore emissions of proposed fracking understated by up to 84% in ‘a rosy picture that simply doesn’t reflect reality’

Fracking to extract gas from the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin could lead to much larger greenhouse gas emissions than the territory government has claimed, according to new analysis.

The report by Climate Analytics, and commissioned by the Nurrdalinji Aboriginal Corporation, finds the projected emissions associated with proposed gas developments in the Beetaloo basin had been significantly underestimated in government modelling, while the availability of carbon offsets had been overestimated.

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Australia was not big enough to vote for the voice, says Stan Grant

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The Indigenous journalist and academic says he and other yes supporters were cast as ‘troublemakers’ for speaking about justice

Journalist and academic Stan Grant has spoken of his feelings of disappointment and rejection at the defeat of the Indigenous voice referendum, critical that public figures who talk about racism in Australia are characterised as “troublemakers” in media discourse.

The Wiradjuri man lamented the referendum loss as a missed opportunity to better help Indigenous people, saying current political processes are “not enough” to address disadvantage. In a speech to the Australian National University on Monday, Grant was critical of the no campaign’s attacks on the voice, but also questioned the yes campaign’s strategy.

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New NSW fire chief flags mental health focus and financial stability after recent turmoil

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Jeremy Fewtrell says upcoming bushfire season will include ‘periods of really intense activity’ as he takes up commissioner role

New South Wales’s incoming fire commissioner, Jeremy Fewtrell, has promised to focus on financial stability and the mental health of the state’s firefighters as he faces the further challenges of an extreme bushfire season and climate change.

Fewtrell, who takes up the role after his predecessor was sacked amid financial turmoil at Fire and Rescue NSW, also warned the upcoming bushfire season would be challenging, with some “periods of really intense activity”.

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Services Australia forced to pause Centrelink debt repayments for 86,000 people amid legality concerns

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Debt pause comes after watchdog found historical ‘income apportionment’ method breached social security law

Services Australia has been forced to pause Centrelink repayments for 86,000 people over concerns the welfare debts may be unlawful, while warning income support recipients it’s too early to say if those debts will be waived.

In August the commonwealth ombudsman revealed that up to 100,000 debts or potential debts were incorrectly calculated over two decades by “unlawfully apportioning” welfare recipients’ income.

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Queensland fires: conditions to deteriorate on Tuesday as authorities confirm 46 homes destroyed

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More than 80 fires are burning across Queensland, with extreme fire conditions forecast for Darling Downs region

Forty-six homes have been destroyed in deadly Queensland fires as authorities warn conditions will continue to deteriorate on Tuesday.

Extreme fire conditions have been forecast for the Darling Downs region, with strong westerly winds and high temperatures expected to accelerate fires and fatigue firefighting crews.

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Icac says Berejiklian inquiry sent ‘clear message’ – as it happened

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Australia’s ‘agricultural demands’ did not meet recent negotiations, EU spokesperson says

According to Politico, a spokesperson for the EU executive had this to say about the breakdown of free trade deal negotiations:

The European Commission regrets the lack of progress made during talks in Osaka today.

Our negotiating teams made good progress in recent weeks, including in the days leading up to the Osaka meeting. There was optimism that a deal was within reach.

My job as Australia’s trade minister is to get the best deal that we can for our producers, our businesses, our workers and our consumers.

Unfortunately we’ve not been able to make progress.

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Victorian education official to apologise in person for antisemitic bullying at Brighton secondary college

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A judge also ordered the state to pay the five men more than $500,000 in compensation, including interest and legal costs

A Victorian education department official will make an in-person apology to five students who experienced antisemitic bullying at a Melbourne school.

The former Brighton secondary college students – Joel and Matt Kaplan, Liam Arnold-Levy, Guy Cohen and Zack Snelling – successfully sued the school and the state of Victoria in the federal court, which handed down its decision last month.

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Australia urged to cut back $45bn Hunter-class frigate project as part of ‘bold revamp’

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New report argues navy ‘lacks the resources to adequately protect Australia’s vast maritime interests’

Australia should cut back its $45bn Hunter-class frigate project or the navy will end up with too many ships focused on anti-submarine warfare, a new report warns.

The report published by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (Aspi) calls for a “bold” revamp of the navy’s surface fleet, including reducing the Hunter-class frigate order from nine ships to six.

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Australian rental vacancy rate falls to record low, data shows

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Limited supply and strong demand prompts national median weekly advertised rents to rise 14.6% over the year

Tenants are continuing to struggle with rising rents and limited supply, with new data showing the total number of rental listings has fallen to a record low.

PropTrack data shows the number of new rental listings declined 5.7% in the year to September, with the fewest new listings in September for more than a decade. The total number of rental listings fell 7.1% on the year before to hit a record low.

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In the face of grim polling, can Annastacia Palaszczuk and Queensland Labor retain the state?

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Daniel Andrews went out on top but in Queensland the premier fights on, even as the LNP gears up to go all-in on regional seats

“What you see is what you get” has been Annastacia Palaszczuk’s unofficial political motto. She’s used the line dozens of times, as the fledgling “unexpected” premier in 2015; ahead of a leaders’ debate in 2017; and again and again during the bruising Covid campaign of 2020.

It’s perhaps no surprise, then, that a year before the next election and with polls showing Palasczuk and her government on shaky ground the Queensland premier has retreated to familiar territory.

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NSW minister urges public to call out ‘inappropriate behaviour’ towards women after school coach’s death

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Exclusive: State’s domestic violence prevention minister says it’s ‘up to every single one of us’ to help prevent harm against women

Preventing violence against women is up to individuals and government money to fight the scourge will be “wasted” without community change, according to the New South Wales domestic violence prevention minister, Jodie Harrison.

The minister wants everyone to call out disrespect towards women in the wake of the killing of 21-year-old Lilie James at an elite private school in Sydney last week that left Harrison “physically sick”.

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In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14 and the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. Other international helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org

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Julian Assange’s brother urges Anthony Albanese to ‘up the ante’ over Wikileaks founder’s case

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Prime minister pushed back on idea of US president personally stepping in, but Gabriel Shipton calls prosecution ‘entirely political’

Julian Assange’s brother has urged the Australian government to “up the ante” after the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, confirmed he raised the WikiLeaks founder’s case with Joe Biden last week.

Assange’s brother, Gabriel Shipton, told Guardian Australia: “If his government can get back Cheng Lei from China, why is he so impotent when it comes to Julian and the USA?”

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Two dead in light plane crash in Queensland – as it happened

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The PM has said he has raised Julian Assange’s case with President Biden, but he shied away from calling him to intervene, saying Biden ‘doesn’t interfere with the Department of Justice’.

We keep our discussions private. I made clear Australia’s position that I made as Labor leader, the same position I hold as prime minister, which is that enough is enough, it is time that this issue was brought to a conclusion.

Well, the Australian officials are working very hard to achieve an outcome which is consistent with the position that I’ve put.

Look, this is - this is of major benefit, not just to the workers and the base there at Virginia and other places, but, of course, particularly for South Australia and Western Australia. This will be a jobs bonanza, and it will do more than the direct jobs as well.

A bit like the former auto industry did … this is highly advanced manufacturing for Australia. We will reap the benefit for decades to come.

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Peter Dutton accused of trying to gain ‘political advantage’ over Israel-Hamas war

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Opposition leader says government ‘squibbed’ key United Nations vote, but trade minister says his comments are not ‘helpful at this time’

A senior Australian government minister has accused the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, of trying to gain “political advantage” over the “terrible, terrible conflict” in the Middle East.

Dutton said on Sunday that the government had “squibbed” a key vote at the United Nations, after Australia abstained from casting a vote in a UN resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian truce in Gaza. He also said it was “very significant” that the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, had failed to secure a phone call with his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, since the crisis began three weeks ago.

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Toyota sales chief says EVs ‘impractical’ for Australian drivers as Tesla retaliates against ‘cynical’ attack

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Sean Hanley says hybrid vehicles are ‘better fit’ in Australia but Electric Vehicle Council says brand’s comments could undermine lithium industry

Australia’s most popular car brand, Toyota, has launched a stinging attack on electric vehicles claiming they are not ready for our roads, not as green as they seem and remain “impractical for the vast majority of Australian motorists”.

But Australia’s most popular electric car brand and industry groups claim the argument is a “cynical” attack by a company “too slow off the mark” and at risk of losing the future automotive race.

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Russian delegation stymies creation of Antarctic conservation area

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Efforts at major conference in Tasmania stall despite evidence that such areas would save crucial foraging and breeding grounds for Antarctic wildlife

A major international conference on the Antarctic marine environment has failed to agree on new conservation areas despite hearing evidence the southern continent is facing a range of crises, including historically low sea ice levels, plummeting wildlife numbers and the first cases of bird flu.

Longstanding proposals to create nearly 4m sq km of marine protected areas did not receive consensus support largely due to opposition from the Russian government delegation, which arrived late due to visa-related delays and then repeatedly stalled discussions, according to multiple sources at the meeting in Hobart.

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Family of Sydney man shot dead during psychotic episode demand police retract claim he was ‘known’ to them

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Call by family of Steve Pampalian comes as Greens accuse police of curating the narrative around other people fatally Tasered or shot

The family of Steve Pampalian who was shot dead by New South Wales police in Sydney while suffering a psychotic episode is calling on the force to retract its suggestion he was “known to police” or provide evidence to support the claim.

The demand comes as the NSW Greens accused police of curating the narrative around other people fatally Tasered or shot in recent months, including Clare Nowland and Krista Kach.

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Thousands of men in private Facebook groups that are ‘cesspits’ of racism and misogyny

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While women’s groups on the platform support and warn others, men’s groups feature mostly derogatory comments

Thousands of Australian men are in private Facebook groups that are “cesspits” of racism, misogyny, doxing, slut-shaming and fat-shaming.

Some of them appear to be set up in response to women’s groups that are dedicated to exposing cheaters. Those sites, hundreds of which have sprung up around the world and in many parts of Australia, also “out” men for violence and abuse.

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Australia abstains from UN resolution calling for truce in Gaza, prompting criticism at home

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Representative explains resolution ‘did not recognise terror group Hamas as perpetrator of 7 October attack’

Australia has abstained from casting a vote in a UN resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian truce in Gaza, arguing it was “incomplete” because it did not mention Hamas as the perpetrator of the 7 October attack.

On Friday, the United Nations general assembly overwhelmingly called for an “immediate, durable and sustainable humanitarian truce” between Israel and Hamas and demanded unhindered aid access to the besieged Gaza Strip.

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Doctors from around the world unite to call for urgent climate action

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Health bodies demand all governments immediately cease expansion of new fossil fuel infrastructure and production

Global health bodies are demanding international governments urgently phase out fossil fuels and fast-track renewable energy as health professionals increasingly see patients suffering from harm caused by climate change.

The world’s leading GP and health bodies, representing more than three million health professionals worldwide, will deliver an open letter on Saturday calling for urgent action against climate change to protect the health of communities.

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