Category Archives: Australia news

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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Residents evacuated in middle of the night from three fast-moving Queensland bushfires

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Firefighters continue to battle major blazes near Tara, where more than 30 homes have already been lost

Residents in Queensland’s Western Downs and Gladstone regions were ordered to evacuate in the middle of the night, as dozens of fires continue burning around the state.

Just before 1am on Saturday multiple emergency warnings were issued for the communities of Tara, Wieambilla and The Gums in the Western Downs region, west of Brisbane.

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Man charged as search continues for pet pythons allegedly dumped in Sydney street

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Snakes Bagel and Mango are used to a much warmer climate than found in Coogee and owner is ‘scared for their safety’

New South Wales police have charged a man after two pet pythons were allegedly dumped on to the street in Coogee, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs last week.

The 2.5-metre snakes, named Bagel and Mango, have been missing since last Saturday, with the pet’s owner posting on a Facebook group that they were dumped in an alleged fit of anger by her former partner during their break-up.

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Kate has endometriosis – and gastro problems. New research shows she’s not alone

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Genetic links have been revealed between the crippling chronic condition and painful gastrointestinal disorders

After 16 rounds of surgery for endometriosis, Kate Fisher underwent a hysterectomy at age 34.

She thought it would mean an end to the debilitatingly painful periods – instead, she began shedding from her bowel each month.

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Sydney turns over a new leaf and says goodbye to much-maligned plane trees

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Trees once described as ‘about as much use to our wildlife as concrete posts’ to gradually be phased out in favour of more drought-tolerant plants

The City of Sydney has said it will gradually phase out the use of plane trees across the streets of the city.

Plane trees, which account for almost 10% of the street and park trees across the whole City of Sydney but are the dominant species in some areas, have had their fair share of critics over the years.

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Australian politician’s speech at tobacco conference in September allegedly in breach of WHO treaty

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Exclusive: Discussion on panel came as federal government was developing reforms to address high rates of youth nicotine addiction

An Australian politician spoke at the tobacco industry’s flagship conference in South Korea, despite the federal government developing reforms to address alarming rates of youth nicotine addiction.

It is the first time in more than a decade that a serving Australian politician has spoken at a tobacco industry-funded conference. Attending such events could breach a World Health Organization (WHO) treaty, to which Australia is a signatory.

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Lilie James remembered as ‘vibrant’ and ‘adored by all’ as elite Sydney school reassures parents

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Heartbroken family issue statement and thank community for support after 21-year-old killed at St Andrew’s Cathedral school

Friends, family and colleagues are remembering the Sydney water polo coach and university student Lilie James for her “bright, bubbly personality”, as students prepare to return next week to the elite private school where she was killed.

James, 21, was found dead with serious head injuries in a bathroom attached to the St Andrew’s Cathedral school gymnasium at about midnight on Wednesday.

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Firebombing death of bus driver in Brisbane could have been avoided with better decisions, coroner finds

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Decision to discharge ‘low risk’ Anthony O’Donohue from mental health service in 2016 found to be ‘not satisfactory’

The firebombing death of a young bus driver “might not have occurred” if different decisions had been made about the care of the mental health patient who had been deemed “low risk” before killing him, Queensland’s state coroner has found.

Terry Ryan handed down his findings a day before the seventh anniversary of the death of Manmeet Sharma, a 29-year-old from India who had been working as a bus driver for the Brisbane city council for just three months.

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Woman found guilty over woodchipper murder of ex-partner in Queensland

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Brisbane supreme court finds Sharon Graham, 63, was architect of plot to kill Bruce Saunders for insurance money

A woman accused of being the architect of a murder plan that involved a man being fed into a woodchipper has been found guilty.

Sharon Graham, 63, pleaded not guilty to the murder of Bruce James Saunders at a property near Gympie on 12 November 2017.

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‘Difficult and expensive’: US report raises Aukus doubts after Joe Biden reassures Anthony Albanese at White House

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Congressional report says sale of three to five Virginia class submarines would cut the number available to the US navy fleet

The US Congressional Budget Office has raised fresh concerns about Aukus, just one day after the US president, Joe Biden, assured the visiting Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, that the deal would ultimately be approved by congress.

Biden told Albanese after talks at the White House on Wednesday that the passage of legislation allowing for the transfer of nuclear-powered submarines to Australia was a matter of “not if, but when”.

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Penny Wong urges Australians in Lebanon to ‘consider leaving’ – As it happened

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Foreign minister flags government’s concerns about ‘volatile security situation’. This blog is now closed

Pay deal averts six-day strike by dairy workers

A looming strike at one of Victoria’s major milk companies has been averted after the processor struck a pay deal with the union.

There is some concern around Mount Isa, and we are looking at what we can do to support that area being so remote in the western part of our state.

So looking at the weather we have today, still very extreme fire danger in the western part of Queensland. We are certainly looking at another challenging day.

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Paul Keating says voice referendum was ‘wrong fight’ and has ‘ruined the game’ for a treaty

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Exclusive: Former PM accuses John Howard and Tony Abbott of ‘outrageously and wilfully misinterpreting’ result in attempt to return to ‘great assimilation project’

Indigenous Australians were always “fighting the wrong fight” with a voice to parliament, the former prime minister Paul Keating has said, and the failure of the referendum has now “ruined the game” for a treaty that could have properly acknowledged prior Indigenous ownership and dispossession.

In an interview with Guardian Australia, Keating accused the former Liberal prime ministers John Howard and Tony Abbott, and the historian Geoffrey Blainey, of “outrageously and wilfully misinterpreting” the referendum result in an attempt to return to “the great assimilation project”.

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How Bruce Lehrmann’s media interviews cost him his anonymity in Toowoomba rape case

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The ‘high-profile man’ has been identified after TV appearances about the Brittany Higgins case came back to burn him

“Let’s light some fires,” said Bruce Lehrmann in June, during the first of his two-part “bombshell” interviews on Channel Seven’s flagship Spotlight program.

“Everything needs to be out there, in the open, so people can assess this for what it is.”

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Poorer Australian regions lose out in ‘flawed’ allocation of doctors, GP body says

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System of identifying shortages leads to skewing of resources towards wealthier areas, according to Royal Australian College of General Practitioners

Several poor rural regions are being disadvantaged by the way the Australian government identifies significant doctor shortages, while some wealthy areas are being classified as needing extra resources.

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners has argued that the system – which determines which regions need additional resources – is flawed and is exacerbating rural GP workforce shortages.

Doctors trained overseas are crucial to easing GP shortages across the country because for their first 10 years in Australia they must work in areas of need, known as a distribution priority area, to access Medicare benefits.

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Australian Catholic church’s insurer launches court bid to cover smaller share of abuse compensation

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Scandal-plagued PwC would determine payout rates under scheme proposed by Catholic Church Insurance in effort to avoid insolvency

The Catholic church insurer wants to establish a scheme that would stave off its own insolvency by paying church bodies only a fraction of the money owed to abuse survivors at rates to be determined by the scandal-plagued consultancy PwC, documents show.

Catholic Church Insurance is facing significant financial turmoil due to the rising volume of abuse claims, estimating it has $381m in liabilities relating to professional standards payouts to various church entities, including dioceses and church-aligned charities.

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Australia’s taxes ‘inadequate’ for ‘adequate services’, former secretary of finance warns

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Michael Keating to call for revenue review at Australia Institute summit as Labor provides update on multinational tax avoidance

Australia’s taxes are “inadequate” to finance government responsibilities including for aged care and defence, a former head of the finance department has warned.

Michael Keating, the secretary of the Department of Finance from 1986 to 1991, will call for a review of revenue at the progressive thinktank the Australia Institute’s revenue summit on Friday. The call is aimed at sparking debate about methods to close the tax gap including congestion charging, lifting and broadening the goods and services tax and adjusting the stage-three income tax cuts.

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Australia news live: devastation revealed in Queensland bushfire aftermath

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There is ‘a lot of anxiety’ in the Western Downs where at least 16 houses have been destroyed, the mayor says. Follow the day’s news live

Civilians in the blockaded Gaza Strip will receive an extra $15m in humanitarian aid from the Australian government.

Prime minister Anthony Albanese made the announcement at a joint press conference with US president Joe Biden.

The plaintiff served years in prison that he otherwise would not have. At no stage did Victoria Police take positive steps to remedy its wrongdoing by expeditiously informing the plaintiff of Gobbo’s conduct in order to quash his conviction. Victoria Police has not apologised to the plaintiff.

Starting this court case is a significant moment for me. I am anxious about the future but also cautiously optimistic about finally holding police to account for what they did to me.

In the pursuit of justice, vindication came first, and now I see compensation as a measure of accountability.

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