Category Archives: Australia news

‘Nazis don’t belong in this country’: Victorian premier scathing over masked march by ‘goons’ in Melbourne CBD

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Man allegedly assaulted after confronting group of about 100 people on march to Flagstaff Gardens early on Saturday

The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has condemned “goons” who took part in a neo-Nazi march through the streets of Melbourne in the early hours of Saturday morning.

About 100 people dressed in black with face coverings marched through the Melbourne CBD, including down Bourke Street, police said in a statement.

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Byron writers festival cancelled and warnings for Sydney’s City2Surf due to east coast rain dump

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Major flood warning remains in place along Namoi River as parts of coastline receive almost double August monthly rainfall in eight days

Heavy rainfall across Australia’s eastern states has prompted the cancellation of the Byron writers festival and a warning for participants in Sunday’s City2Surf race in Sydney to take care, after parts of the east coast received nearly double the typical August monthly rainfall in eight days.

The Byron festival organisers said they were “devastated” to announce the cancellation of the annual event due to the condition of the festival site and ongoing rain, and that it was a “deeply regrettable but necessary decision”.

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Eight bat researchers mostly from Asia and Africa refused entry into Australia to attend global scientific event

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Organisers say move will damage nation’s scientific standing as government refuses to comment on why group of scientists were refused entry

Organisers of an international research conference have criticised a last-minute Australian government decision to deny visas to eight invited researchers, mostly from Asia and Africa.

Prof Justin Welbergen, chair of the 20th International Bat Research Conference in Cairns, said the decision to deny the researchers entry without option to appeal had disrupted the event, which is a key forum for global collaboration on bat research and conservation.

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Natsiaa 2025: Gaypalani Waṉambi wins $100,000 award for ‘exquisite’ artwork made with discarded road signs

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Waṉambi takes home Australia’s most prestigious First Nations art prize for her artwork Burwu, blossom, which saw her etch thousands of stringybark blossoms and bees

Gaypalani Waṉambi grew up surrounded by art, with her family home in north-eastern Arnhem Land doubling as a studio where her parents and siblings painted on bark and wooden poles. In her late teens, she started assisting her father, esteemed artist Mr W Waṉambi, who taught her how to paint the clan’s ancient designs, using traditional materials such as ochre. As he branched into more experimental forms such as animation and etching on metal, she too began to experiment with these new mediums.

On Friday night, the Yolŋu woman was awarded the $100,000 top prize at the 42nd National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art awards (Natsiaas), one of Australia’s richest and most prestigious art prizes, for an artwork that honoured his legacy while forging her own path.

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NSW police officers jailed for assaulting woman suffering mental health episode during welfare check

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Nathan Black, 28, and Timothy John Trautsch, 30, sentenced to at least three years in prison for attack in Sydney in 2023

Two police officers who punched, kicked and pepper-sprayed a naked woman experiencing a mental health episode will spend the next three years behind bars.

Nathan Black, 28, and Timothy John Trautsch, 30, were sentenced in the Penrith district court in Sydney on Friday.

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Penny Wong warns Israel that occupying Gaza could violate international law

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Australia’s foreign minister says two-state solution the only pathway to peace as Israel’s security cabinet approves plan to take over Gaza City

Penny Wong has urged Israel not to follow through on its plans to occupy Gaza, a step she said could constitute a breach of international law.

In a statement to Guardian Australia, Australia’s foreign minister pushed back on Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to take control of the whole Gaza Strip. The plan approved by Israel’s security cabinet after an overnight meeting on Thursday – to take over Gaza City – stopped short of that, but will likely displace tens of thousands of Palestinians already suffering from famine.

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Bush pilot ditched Outback Wrangler star’s mobile phone after fatal helicopter crash, trial hears

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Michael Burbidge gives evidence he told police Chris Wilson’s wife ‘doesn’t need to see what’s on the phone’

A bush pilot has told a court he ditched reality TV star Chris “Willow” Wilson’s mobile phone after a fatal helicopter crash, but can’t recall unscrewing the chopper’s console with Outback Wrangler’s Matt Wright.

Michael Burbidge, pilot and director of Remote Helicopters, gave evidence at Wright’s trial in the supreme court in Darwin on Friday.

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Six-year-old girl dies of influenza after twice being discharged from Sydney hospital

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Girl was sent home from Sydney Children’s hospital in Randwick twice before being admitted to Northern Beaches hospital a day later, where she died

A six-year-old girl has died of the flu at Northern Beaches hospital after being twice sent home from the Sydney Children’s hospital, and the New South Wales health minister has said her parents “deserve answers”.

The girl presented to the emergency department at the Sydney Children’s hospital in Randwick on Monday and was discharged after a clinical assessment.

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Kathleen Folbigg’s $2m compensation ‘a moral affront’ after two decades in jail for wrongful convictions, lawyer says

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Appeals court formally overturned mother’s convictions over her children’s four deaths in 2023, clearing her name

Kathleen Folbigg has been compensated an “insulting” amount of $2m after spending two decades in prison before an inquiry found she had been wrongfully convicted for killing her four children.

Folbigg, once referred to as among Australia’s worst serial killers, was convicted in 2003 and ordered to serve a minimum 25-year sentence for the suffocation murders of three of her children and manslaughter of a fourth.

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Labor decision to lift ban on PwC ‘an insult’ to inquiry that investigated Treasury scandal, Pocock says

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Finance department rejects last minute plea from three senators urging it to maintain block on consultancy firm competing for new government work

The finance department has rejected a last minute plea from three senators who led parliamentary inquiries into PwC Australia urging it not to lift a ban on the consultancy firm competing for new government work.

Last month, Guardian Australia revealed the finance department had recommended the end of a long-term ban triggered by a scandal involving the misuse of confidential Treasury information.

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Penny Wong complained to China about intimidation of exiled Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigners

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Exclusive: Foreign affairs minister used July meeting on Asean sidelines to elevate criticism of targeting of Adelaide-based Ted Hui and Melbourne-based Kevin Yam

The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, complained about the targeted intimidation of exiled pro-democracy campaigners from Hong Kong directly to her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, during a bilateral meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

The July meeting was the first face-to-face discussion between the pair since two Hong Kong activists wanted for alleged national security crimes were subjected to anonymous letters offering Australian neighbours $203,000 to inform on them.

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University of Sydney removes Palestinian flag from academic’s window after accusing him of breaching policy

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Dr David Brophy claims new flag policy introduced in June was ‘precisely in response to people like me hanging Palestinian flags’

The University of Sydney has removed a Palestinian flag hanging outside an academic’s office after accusing him of breaching its new flag policy.

The 13-page flag policy, revised in June and formerly referred to as flag guidelines, sets out the university’s requirements for flying and displaying flags and using university flagpoles. Under the policy, “unapproved flags” must not be flown permanently, including flags that represent unlawful activities, are inconsistent with university values, represent a political party or are considered to be “otherwise unsuitable”.

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Some electric cars fall short of claimed range by up to 23%, Australian motoring group finds

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The Australian Automobile Association tested vehicles from Tesla, BYD, Kia and Smart in bid to give consumers more accurate information

A government-funded program to test the true performance of vehicles has found the driving range of five popular electric cars is between 5% and 23% lower than results from laboratory testing.

The Australian Automobile Association tested vehicles from Tesla, BYD, Kia and Smart – the first EVs to be put through its four-year, federally funded Real World Testing Program to give consumers more accurate information on vehicle performance.

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Arts and media groups demand Labor take a stand against ‘rampant theft’ of Australian content to train AI

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Productivity Commission report raises possible exemption for ‘text and data mining’ and expanding fair dealing rules, prompting fierce pushback

Arts, creative and media groups have demanded the government rule out allowing big tech companies to take Australian content to train their artificial intelligence models, with concerns such a shift would “sell out” Australian workers and lead to “rampant theft” of intellectual property.

The Albanese government has said it has no plans to change copyright law, but any changes must consider effects on artists and news media. The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, has demanded that copyrighted material must not be used without compensation.

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Reality TV star Matt Wright tried to cover up previous rule-breaking after Outback Wrangler helicopter crash, court told

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Crown argues Wright did not properly record helicopter flying hours and was concerned that crash investigations would uncover that

The reality TV star Matt Wright “played around” with the dashboard of a helicopter after a fatal crash and falsely reported its fuel tank level, a jury has heard

The Outback Wrangler star’s trial began on Wednesday, more than three years after Wright’s mate and Outback Wrangler co-star Chris “Willow” Wilson died in the outback helicopter crash that left pilot Sebastian Robinson a paraplegic.

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Great Barrier Reef suffers biggest annual drop in live coral since 1980s after devastating coral bleaching

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Researchers warn reef may reach tipping point where coral cannot recover fast enough between major catastrophic events

The Great Barrier Reef has suffered its biggest annual drop in live coral in two out of three areas monitored by scientists since 1986, a new report has revealed.

The Australian Institute of Marine Science (Aims) report is the first to comprehensively document the devastating impacts of the early 2024 mass coral bleaching event – the most widespread and severe on record for the Great Barrier Reef.

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First Nations group launches federal appeal to block construction of main Brisbane 2032 Olympics stadium

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Application lodged for permanent legal protection of Victoria Park, where state and federal governments plan to spend billions on sports infrastructure

A First Nations group has applied to halt construction of the main stadium planned for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.

The state and federal governments plan to spend $3.8bn on a 63,000-seat stadium at Victoria Park in inner-city Brisbane. It will host the opening and closing ceremonies and athletics events.

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Confused passengers evacuated from Brisbane domestic airport and told to re-screen after metal detector fault

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Flights delayed after ‘technical fault with a single metal detector’ but airport says there is no safety or security threat

Passengers have been evacuated from Brisbane domestic airport and flights have been delayed after a fault with a single metal detector prompted both travellers and staff to be re-screened by security.

Pictures on social media showed large crowds at the airport, with one person saying the “entire place has ground to a halt”.

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Sall Grover begins federal court appeal against Roxanne Tickle’s gender discrimination case win

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Lawyers for founder of Giggle for Girls app says ‘special measure’ under Sex Discrimination Act allows for ‘women-only safe space’

Giggle for Girls and Sall Grover have begun their appeal to overturn a landmark court decision that found the women-only social media app and its CEO had unlawfully discriminated against Roxanne Tickle, a transgender woman.

On Monday, the full court of the federal court heard that Grover’s team believes the app – designed as a “women-only safe space” – constituted a “special measure” under the Sex Discrimination Act (SDA), which allows discrimination with the aim of redressing historical disadvantage between men and women.

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Logies 2025: Home and Away’s Lynne McGranger wins gold as Fisk dominates Australia’s TV awards

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Soap star wins as her 32-year run playing Irene Roberts ends, while streamers go home mostly empty-handed and Magda Szubanski gives emotional speech as she is inducted into the Hall of Fame

The Home and Away actor Lynne McGranger has won the Gold Logie award for most popular personality on Australian television as she ends her record 32-year run playing the much-loved matriarch Irene Roberts.

McGranger is the longest-serving female actor in any Australian drama, having played Irene for nearly 33 years. She announced her departure in February and her final episode will air mid-August.

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