Category Archives: Australia news

Australia’s largest aluminium smelter Tomago ‘not commercially viable’ and facing closure, says Rio Tinto

Posted on by

Consultation over future pathway with employees as smelter struggles with high power prices

Rio Tinto says it is contemplating ceasing operations at its New South Wales-based Tomago aluminium smelter at the end of its current electricity supply contract.

The Tomago aluminium smelter, Australia’s largest, had been struggling with high power prices. It had started a consultation process with employees on the potential future of its operations, but was yet to reach a decision and is weighing a possible closure.

Continue reading...

At least 174 racehorses died from racing or training injuries in past 12 months in Australia, report finds

Posted on by

That’s the highest number recorded by the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses since they began tracking deaths 10 years ago

At least 174 thoroughbred racehorses died at the track or as a result of injuries sustained while racing or training in the past 12 months – the highest number recorded by animal rights activists since they began tracking 10 years ago.

The report from the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses (CPR) was released on Tuesday, one week ahead of Australia’s most important horse race, the Melbourne Cup.

Continue reading...

Barnaby Joyce’s walkout and endless net zero rehashing? The Nationals are ‘having a normal one’

Posted on by

The former deputy prime minister staying out of the Nationals party room is the latest sign some in the Coalition are in no rush to finish their ugly airing of grievances

The Nationals are once again, in the words of Chris Bowen, “having a normal one”.

Another Monday, another parliamentary week, another chapter in the seemingly never-ending story of the Coalition putting its fingers in its ears and screaming as they debate whether to ignore global momentum, scientific consensus and pleas from the business community, and seek to relitigate a position on net zero reached four years ago by the Morrison government.

Continue reading...

Hannah McGuire’s mother tells murderer she hopes he suffers ‘most intense pain imaginable’ for life

Posted on by

Family members of young woman strangled to death by her former boyfriend in her own home have confronted killer Lachlan Young in court

A mother has confronted her daughter’s killer in court, saying she will never forgive him for taking away her vibrant and courageous girl.

Lachlan Young, 23, did not look at Hannah McGuire’s mother, Debbie McGuire, as she read her statement in the Victorian supreme court on Monday.

Continue reading...

The not-so-little Murray cod that could: fish tracked swimming 900km along Australia’s biggest river system

Posted on by

Fish named after Olympic swimming champion Ariarne Titmus was most recently tracked at a section of the mid-Murray, near Belsar Island

A young Murray cod has swum one of the longest ever recorded journeys for the species, travelling about 900km through the Murray River, its streams and backchannels.

Murray cod, Australia’s largest freshwater fish, grow up to 1.5 metres and can live for half a century. Research by Victoria’s Arthur Rylah Institute has shown the species, listed as vulnerable under federal environment laws, is capable of covering extreme distances.

Continue reading...

Allan says Victoria machete ban is working despite brawl at community sport event

Posted on by

Police were called to a fight among a large group of men armed with machetes on Saturday evening

The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has said the state’s machete ban is working, despite reports of a brawl on Saturday night in Melbourne’s north and the discovery of a teenager with serious injuries nearby.

Police were called to respond to a large group of males, aged in their late teens, fighting with machetes on Saturday evening, Det Sgt Matthew Feben told reporters on Sunday morning.

Continue reading...

A year on as Queensland premier, will David Crisafulli’s small-target strategy prove his undoing?

Posted on by

The LNP government has a firm stance on only one issue – youth crime – and is looking like it’s in need of an agenda

When David Crisafulli speaks to the Liberal National party faithful, his message tends to become a blunt warning to members and MPs to keep any unsavoury, unelectable tendencies out of sight.

“We don’t exist for culture wars,” the Queensland premier – who marks a year in office on Sunday – told the party’s state council just after the 2024 election.

Continue reading...

Children under 14 are incapable of evil and should be protected from criminal responsibility, NSW review finds

Posted on by

Review was led by former supreme court judge turned parole authority chair Geoffrey Bellew SC and former NSW police deputy commissioner Jeffrey Loy

A centuries-old legal presumption that children aged between 10 and 14 are not capable of evil should become law, a New South Wales review led by a former supreme court judge and a former senior NSW police figure has recommended.

In NSW, the criminal age of responsibility is 10 but the common law presumption of doli incapax – Latin for “incapable of evil” – can apply up to 14, offering protection for children being prosecuted on the presumption they don’t understand the difference between right and wrong.

Continue reading...

Revealed: some Australians have overpaid their Centrelink debt by more than $20,000

Posted on by

Exclusive: Services Australia spokesperson says automatic BPay payments and Centrelink being unable to contact customers may be to blame

Approximately 44,000 Australians who have a debt with Centrelink have overpaid it, some by $20,000 or more, Guardian Australia can reveal.

It is the latest in a string of scandals to hit Centrelink after hundreds of thousands of people had their payments illegally cancelled, with several reviews concluding the welfare system is not working legally and the government announcing plans to undertake at least three remediation processes for separate issues – the robodebt class action, income apportionment and overpaid debts.

Continue reading...

Homemade chilli paste products linked to cluster of rat poisoning cases in south-east Queensland

Posted on by

Queensland Health has issued an alert for people to be aware of the products they warn could still be circulating in the Logan community

Health authorities have identified homemade chilli paste products as the source of a cluster of rat poisoning cases in south-east Queensland.

Five people from the same geographic area presented to hospitals earlier in October with symptoms consistent with being exposed to brodifacoum, the active ingredient in rat poison.

Continue reading...

Australia’s $20m ‘iron fist’ deal with Israel’s largest arms company signed two weeks before UN genocide finding

Posted on by

Exclusive: Experts criticise federal government’s contract with Elbit Systems as ‘troubling acceptance’ of Israel’s conduct in Gaza

Australia’s $20m purchase of missiles from an Israeli arms company for its “iron fist” weapons system on infantry vehicles has been condemned as “morally questionable” and reflective of a “troubling acceptance” of Israel’s conduct in Gaza.

The Australian defence department signed a contract with Israel’s largest weapons company, Elbit Systems, on 1 September, two weeks before a UN commission of inquiry found Israel was committing genocide in Gaza. Details of the contract were not published on the Australian government’s contract database until last week.

Continue reading...

‘Kill crew’ allegedly sent photo of kidnapped Sydney woman before murdering her, police say

Posted on by

Police have charged three more men over the death of 45-year-old Thi Kim Tran

Three men have been charged with murder after allegedly taking part in the “kill crew” that murdered a 45-year-old woman from suburban Sydney.

Thi Kim Tran’s body was found bound and gagged in the back of a burnt-out SUV in the city’s south-west on 17 April.

Continue reading...

Women launch class action against ADF alleging widespread sexual violence, misogyny and harassment

Posted on by

Female members of the military shouldn’t have to fight off their colleagues on a daily basis, lawyer says

Women who allegedly suffered widespread and systemic sexual abuse, harassment, discrimination and victimisation while serving in the Australian defence force are taking part in a class action against the commonwealth.

There are four applicants in the class action, whose names are withheld for legal reasons, but any woman subjected to sexual violence, sexual harassment or discrimination while working in the ADF between 12 November 2003 and 25 May 2025 is eligible to join them.

Continue reading...

Woman tells spycops inquiry of ‘deep mistrust’ of police after relationship with undercover officer

Posted on by

Ellie, who now lives in Australia, tells policing inquiry she was deceived by officer infiltrating animal rights groups

A woman has told a public inquiry in London that she was left devastated and deeply mistrustful of police after an undercover officer deceived her into an intimate relationship at a young age.

The woman, known only as Ellie, who now lives in Australia and is a dual national, told the undercover policing inquiry on Thursday that she had a year-long relationship with James Thomson while he concealed his real identity from her.

Continue reading...

Trump says Australia will get the Aukus submarines – but the decision won’t be his to make

Posted on by

If the US navy needs the subs, they cannot be sold to Australia, regardless of how much the president might wish it

Even by the standards of the Trumpian promise, the unvarnished commitment to Australia on US nuclear submarines – “they’re getting them” – is entirely unreliable.

They are not the US president’s boats to give.

Continue reading...

Gone in 60 milliseconds: dramatic slow-motion snake bites reveal clues about how fangs and venom kill prey

Posted on by

Vipers target with precision, elapids bite repeatedly and colubrids saw their way in – and if they strike too fast, they might lose their teeth

Venomous snakes must strike fast to sink their fangs in prey before they startle – as quickly as 60 milliseconds when hunting rodents.

New research has captured – in slow-motion footage – the differences in how venomous serpents bite their targets.

Continue reading...

Name of suspect in Cheryl Grimmer cold case revealed in parliament by NSW MP

Posted on by

Girl’s family had told the man, known by pseudonym ‘Mercury’, to meet with them by Wednesday midnight or they would make his identity public

A New South Wales MP has used parliamentary privilege to reveal the identity of a man who was previously charged by police over the alleged abduction and murder of a UK-born toddler, Cheryl Grimmer, 55 years ago.

Cheryl vanished from outside a shower block while with her mother and three older brothers at Fairy Meadow beach in the Illawarra region of NSW on 12 January 1970.

Continue reading...

Groceries via delivery apps like Uber Eats, DoorDash and Milkrun can be up to 39% more expensive

Posted on by

Seven out of 13 items at Aldi were priced higher on DoorDash than in store, while Milkrun charged more for 11 out of 13 items from Woolworths

Convenience can come at a steep price, Choice has found, with Australian consumers paying up to 39% more for groceries ordered through rapid delivery apps.

Choice compared in-store prices of 13 common grocery items available at Coles, Woolworths and Aldi with their equivalents on third-party apps Uber Eats, DoorDash and Woolworths-owned Milkrun.

Continue reading...

Two dead at Melbourne beach as wild wind batters state, while parts of Sydney hit by record-breaking heat

Posted on by

Sydney’s Observatory Hill peaks at 37C on Wednesday – below the 39C forecast – as the mercury in other parts of the city neared 40C

Two men have died after being pulled from the water at a Victorian beach amid wild weather in the state.

On Wednesday evening, Victoria police confirmed two men were found unresponsive in the water at Frankston beach, on the Mornington Peninsula, just after 5pm. The men, who are yet to be identified, could not be revived.

Continue reading...

NSW police officer who allegedly assaulted former Greens candidate Hannah Thomas charged with grievous bodily harm

Posted on by

Senior constable will now face two charges, including grievous bodily harm which carries maximum penalty of 14 years

A New South Wales police officer will now face a second charge over the alleged assault of Hannah Thomas, who sustained a serious eye injury after she was arrested at a protest in June.

NSW police said the 33-year-old senior constable, who last month was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm, was on Wednesday also charged with recklessly causing grievous bodily harm.

Continue reading...