Category Archives: Australia news

Cadia goldmine: Newcrest pleads guilty to breaching clean air regulations

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NSW Environmental Protection Authority alleged company had exceeded standard concentration of solid particles under air pollution laws

Mining company Newcrest has pleaded guilty to breaching clean air regulations in the operation of the Cadia goldmine, near Orange in central west New South Wales.

The NSW Environmental Protection Authority began proceedings against the company in August, alleging that the operation of surface exhaust fans attached to the main ventilation shaft for the underground goldmine, dubbed vent rise 8, had caused it to exceed the standard concentration of solid particles under air pollution laws.

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José Ramos-Horta says Australian intelligence agencies ‘know very well’ China deal is of no concern

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Timor-Leste’s president alludes to 2004 spying scandal as he brushes off concerns about new strategic partnership with Beijing

Australian intelligence agencies “know very well” that Timor-Leste’s decision to upgrade diplomatic relations with China is nothing to worry about, the country’s president has said, in an apparent reference to the 2004 spying scandal.

José Ramos-Horta has sought to ease any concerns among Timor-Leste’s neighbours about the country’s new comprehensive strategic partnership with China, despite the agreement flagging plans to expand military exchanges.

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Clive Palmer to launch million-dollar ad blitz for no vote in voice referendum

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United Australia party leader to especially target South Australia and Tasmania in reported $2m national campaign over fortnight up to 14 October poll

The campaign against the voice will be supported by millions of dollars from mining magnate Clive Palmer, who will reportedly launch an ad blitz against the referendum in the final fortnight.

Both the yes and no campaigns are preparing for a final sprint to the 14 October polling day, with major ad buys to target key states in the referendum.

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Queensland court awards temporary order prohibiting the naming of high-profile man accused of rape

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The man, facing two counts of rape in Toowoomba, was set to have been named under law changes due to take effect on Tuesday

A high-profile man accused of rape has been granted a temporary court order preventing him from being named when new Queensland laws come into effect next week.

In January the man was charged with two counts of raping a woman in Toowoomba in 2021, but he is yet to be committed to stand trial.

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This story was updated on 29 September 2023 after an earlier version said an interim order had been made by the court. A temporary order has been made.

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Administrative Appeals Tribunal members will be forced to reapply for jobs after Labor stacking claims

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Mark Dreyfus promises ‘transparent’ process to recruit for new federal merits review body, which will review decisions on migration, the NDIS and Centrelink

Members of the soon-to-be-axed Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) will be asked to reapply for their jobs if they wish to continue on a new federal merits review body, after Labor complained the old tribunal was stacked with Liberal mates.

On Friday the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, will open recruitment for the new Administrative Review Tribunal (ART), promising a “transparent and merit-based selection process for all members”.

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Temperatures to soar 8C above average as ‘heat bubble’ brings scorcher to Australia’s east coast this weekend

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Sydney could reach 35C on Sunday for the NRL and NRLW grand finals and Melbourne 29C for Saturday’s big AFL clash

Temperatures are expected to soar more than 8C above average along Australia’s east coast this weekend.

On Sunday, Sydney – where the NRL and NRLW grand final clashes will take place – could reach a maximum of 35C, making it the hottest day that an NRL grand final match has been played in history. The last hottest conditions for an NRL grand final was in 2014 at 34.7C.

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Voice referendum battlegrounds: digital ad spending surges in South Australia and Tasmania

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Yes and no camps have both honed in on two states considered to be critical to outcome, Facebook advertising data shows

Spending on digital advertising for the Indigenous voice to parliament referendum has surged in the key battleground states of Tasmania and South Australia, a Guardian Australia investigation shows.

An analysis of Facebook ad spending by prominent pages supporting the yes and no campaigns show that, adjusted for population, both groups are heavily focused on Tasmania and South Australia.

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PwC tax leak scandal not isolated to Australia, senators claim

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Accounting firm says no evidence confidential information used by partners outside Australia for commercial gain

The politicians who exposed PwC’s leak of government secrets have claimed the scandal is not isolated to Australia, citing emails that reveal global partners knew they received confidential material and provided assistance.

Confirmation that PwC Australia partners shared confidential details about multinational tax plans triggered an internal investigation, released on Wednesday, which exposed a culture where “revenue is king” and profit is sometimes prioritised above ethics.

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Refugees in PNG told they will be evicted after Australian-sponsored housing bills not paid

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Exclusive: Former Manus Island detainees facing loss of accommodation, but the Australian government claims it is no longer responsible for their welfare

Refugees exiled to Papua New Guinea by Australia have been told they will be evicted from their Australian-sponsored accommodation after bills were not paid for more than a year.

The refugees and asylum seekers were formerly detained within Australia’s Manus Island detention centre before it was ruled unlawful and ordered shut by PNG’s supreme court. About 70 men remain held in PNG, most in rented accommodation in Port Moresby.

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South Australia farmer catches spotted quoll in first official state sighting for 130 years

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Pao Ling Tsai thought his chickens were being taken by a cat but instead he trapped an animal thought extinct on the Limestone Coast

A South Australian farmer trying to protect his chickens has caught a spotted quoll – a species not recorded in the state for over 130 years.

Pao Ling Tsai lost one of his chickens to a predator earlier this week but managed to take some photographs of the animal before it escaped. Unsure of what he had seen, he contacted South Australia’s national parks and wildlife service and they set up a trap.

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Qantas pilots in Western Australia to strike for 24 hours over pay deal

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Industrial action could affect more than 50 flights including routes from Perth to regional towns and mine sites

Qantas pilots who operate passenger, charter and fly-in-fly-out (Fifo) services in Western Australia will stop work for 24 hours next week, as workers negotiating a new pay deal complain of wages “significantly lower” compared to other airlines.

The Australian Federation of Air Pilots (Afap), which represents pilots employed by Network Aviation – a subsidiary of Qantas Group which operates Qantas Link, Fifo and charter services for the airline in Western Australia – said it notified Qantas management on Thursday afternoon about the stop work action.

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China lifts trade restrictions as relationship improves – as it happened

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Trade minister Don Farrell welcomes ‘positive step forward’ but says Australia pressing for all remaining restrictions to be lifted. This blog is now closed

Chalmers also declared the government is not “currently contemplating” a fuel subsidy, as prices continue to rise.

It comes after new data released yesterday showed cost of living is still increasing, with fuel costs jumping 9.1% in August, gas up 12.9% and electricity 12.7%.

It’s not something that we are currently contemplating. And one of the reasons for that is we’ve got I think, a much better way of providing cost of living help for people.

Historically, what the Reserve Bank tries to do is to understand the overall direction of travel.

And the direction of travel has been really clear, inflation is moderating overall, we’ll get these bumpy and lumpy figures month to month from time to time, but it’s moderating overall.

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Australia agrees to clear-the-air talks with Qatar over controversial airline decision

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Exclusive: Comes after heated Senate inquiry hearings told application for extra flights by the Gulf had been “unfairly rejected”

Australian bureaucrats will schedule a meeting with Qatari officials to discuss the Albanese government’s controversial decision to reject Qatar Airways’ request to almost double its flight operations to Australia.

Senate inquiry hearings this week revealed that the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority (QCAA) – which lodged the request for an additional 28 weekly flights to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth – had requested consultations with the Australian department of infrastructure and transport.

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Anthony Albanese to accelerate transition to low emissions after voice referendum

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Exclusive: PM says the ‘right decisions’ are needed to ensure Australia emerges a winner in the global race to renewable energy

Anthony Albanese has signalled he will do more to accelerate the transition to low emissions after the voice referendum has concluded, declaring the “right decisions” are needed to ensure Australia emerges a winner in the global race to renewable energy.

Albanese’s signpost during an interview with Guardian Australia’s politics podcast comes as the government is working up a policy response to challenges and opportunities created by the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act ahead of the prime minister’s visit to Washington in late October.

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Former NSW premier Bob Carr backs environmental alliance urging overhaul of land-clearing laws

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Labor heavyweight also warns of the danger of environment movement fading as he throws support behind new alliance

The former New South Wales premier Bob Carr has backed an alliance of conservation groups calling for tougher environmental protections and an overhaul of the state’s land-clearing laws.

A report from the new alliance – called the Stand Up for Nature alliance – calls for forests and native vegetation to be protected by “ending habitat destruction, run away land clearing and industrial native forest logging”.

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Nearly all of Australia’s top universities dropped places in latest global rankings

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Just one Australian institution remains in the top 50 of Times Higher Education’s 2024 global rankings, with six in top 100

Australia’s top universities have tumbled in Times Higher Education’s (THE) 2024 global rankings, prompting a “red light warning” for the country’s tertiary sector.

Almost all of Australia’s top 10 universities dropped places in this year’s ranking, with just one institution remaining in the top 50 and six in the top 100.

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‘We forgive, but never forget’: yes campaigner Rachel Perkins responds to Warren Mundine on Uluru statement

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The Kalkadoon and Arrernte filmmaker speaks to Full Story podcast after prominent voice opponent campaign leader labelled statement a ‘symbolic declaration of war’

Yes23 co-chair Rachel Perkins has argued opponents of the voice are “doing their best to create division” after Warren Mundine claimed the Uluru statement from the heart was a “symbolic declaration of war”.

Mundine, a spokesperson for the no campaign, made the controversial comments on Tuesday as he addressed the National Press Club in Canberra, arguing the Uluru statement “couldn’t be further from the idea of reconciliation”.

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PwC Australia reveals more breaches on heels of scathing report into consultancy scandal

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Firm releases ‘statement of facts’ alongside Switkowski review making further admissions about government consultation work

PwC Australia has revealed a series of additional breaches of confidentiality as a new report details a litany of corporate failures that allowed confidential government information to be misused for years without any disciplinary action.

The confessions are detailed in what PwC Australia has described as “a statement of facts”, which was published alongside a review into its internal culture by the former Telstra boss Ziggy Switkowski. His report found some partners prioritised profit above ethics and internal dismay at the firm’s response to the scandal.

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Australia news live: Jacinta Allan expected to become new premier of Victoria after Dan Andrews resigns; Tesla battery storage fire in Queensland

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Bill Shorten says Allan is a ‘leader in her own right’; rule quirk means Labor may have acting premier

Andrews’ handling of pandemic ‘a legacy of his strength’, Bill Shorten says

NDIS minister and former Labor leader Bill Shorten has spoken highly of outgoing Victorian premier Daniel Andrews while speaking to ABC RN this morning.

I think the pandemic was the most unusual period in Victoria … and I think that we were learning a lot as we went along during that.

When I think back to those first few days, in March 2020, I think the aim was to ensure that we had enough hospital space to be able to treat people if they got very sick, and that required, I think, a high degree of central leadership.

Police will continue to monitor the situation as there are a large number of batteries on site … Nearby residents are urged to monitor [social media] and be prepared for police to door-knock homes in the area if the situation worsens.

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Jacinta Allan expected to be appointed Victorian premier amid Labor factional fight

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Socialist left ally of Daniel Andrews is seen as his successor, but battles for deputy leader are expected on Wednesday

Victorian Labor MPs have arrived at state parliament ahead of a meeting that is tipped to see Jacinta Allan become the state’s new premier – despite a brewing factional battle over who will become deputy.

Allan, the state’s deputy leader, is expected to be backed by the Labor caucus at a midday meeting to replace the outgoing premier, Daniel Andrews, who will officially resign on Wednesday afternoon.

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