Category Archives: Australia news

‘Horrific’: woman, 19, shot in head in drive-by shooting outside boxing event near Brisbane

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Offenders still at large after shots fired from vehicle outside licensed premises in Loganholme

Four people have been injured after a drive-by shooting outside a venue hosting a boxing event, including a 19-year-old woman who was shot in the head.

Queensland police Detective Inspector Ian Galpin said a group of people were gathered at the passenger drop-off zone outside Fitzy’s Loganholme, south of Brisbane, about 8.18pm on Saturday when a Mitsubishi pulled up.

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Embattled Greens senator Jordon Steele-John confirms leave from parliament after allegations against him made public

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WA politician says he considered attending Senate estimates virtually but was told it would be ‘unacceptable’

Jordon Steele-John has confirmed he will not attend parliament next week as the embattled Greens senator apologises for publicly releasing the letter outlining the claims against him.

On Saturday afternoon, Steele-John removed a social media post containing a three-page letter marked as “confidential” sent to the Greens leader, David Shoebridge, earlier this month. The letter urged an investigation into allegations he had acted inappropriately towards women between 2017 and 2025.

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Helen Haines’s condition improves days after losing both legs from alleged attack

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Independent MP now serious but stable, according to update from Melbourne’s Alfred hospital

Independent MP Helen Haines’s condition has been downgraded to serious but stable after she lost both legs following an alleged attack near her electorate office in north-east Victoria on Monday afternoon.

The Alfred hospital in Melbourne provided an update on Haines’s condition on Saturday morning.

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Jordon Steele-John’s position remains in limbo as Greens prepare for moment in spotlight

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David Shoebridge’s newly-minted leadership under pressure over handling of misconduct allegations as Senate estimates looms

More than a week after allegations that Greens senator Jordon Steele-John had behaved inappropriately towards women made headlines, his position in the party remains in limbo and its new leader’s handling of the issue in question.

David Shoebridge’s first major challenge at the helm of the federal Greens came earlier this month when the Nine newspapers reported a three-page letter had been sent to him urging an independent investigation into Steele-John.

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Nationals leader Matt Canavan eyes move to lower house as pollster warns of One Nation wipeout

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Michelle Landry announces she will not recontest her Queensland seat of Capricornia at the next election

Matt Canavan could attempt a switch to the House of Representatives after a colleague announced her looming retirement, as a leading pollster said the Nationals leader had a “zero per cent” chance of holding his Senate seat if the One Nation polling surge remains unchanged.

Veteran National MP Michelle Landry on Friday announced she would not recontest her Queensland seat of Capricornia, around Rockhampton, at the next election.

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Mother sought advice from Alan Jones after broadcaster’s alleged indecent assault of her son, court hears

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Jones, 85, has pleaded not guilty to 21 charges of indecent assault and sexual touching

The mother of the youngest alleged victim of Alan Jones continued to seek advice from the broadcaster after the teenager was allegedly indecently assaulted at Jones’s Fitzroy Falls farm, a Sydney court has heard.

The divorced mother told the Downing Centre court she had developed a pattern of not trusting herself and she continued her correspondence with Jones because: “I knew he knew about everything; he had an opinion about everything.

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Embattled Queensland minister Amanda Camm quits Crisafulli frontbench citing health and safety reasons

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Camm, who resigned following months of pressure over her handling of state’s child safety system, cited Helen Haines attack as reason for departure

The Queensland minister Amanda Camm has resigned from cabinet following months of pressure over the state government’s handling of the child safety system and efforts to prevent domestic and family violence.

Camm told reporters on Friday the decision to step down was “mine alone”.

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‘Nunchucks’ wielded by agitated man in Hannah Beazley’s office may have been drumsticks, court told

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John Lawrence Smart charged with being armed in a way that may cause fear but Perth lawyer expresses concern for mental health

A man accused of making threats while armed with “improvised nunchucks” at a Western Australian MP’s electorate office could have been holding a musical instrument, not a weapon, a court has been told.

John Lawrence Smart appeared on Thursday in the WA magistrates court where his lawyer expressed concern for his mental health. He was not required to enter a plea.

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Almost every shallow-water coral reef on the planet faces ecosystem collapse by 2075, UN advisors say

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Assessment finds global heating is endangering 96% of coral reefs across 80 countries – a figure scientists say should serve as a ‘wake-up call’

Almost every shallow-water coral reef on the planet, including Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, faces a high risk of ecosystem collapse before 2075 because of global heating, according to an assessment by United Nations nature advisers.

About 24% of the planet’s reefs across more than 80 countries are already critically endangered, the assessment said, but when the expected impacts of global heating were added this rose to 96%.

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Soft-spoken David Pocock has big ambitions – but first he wants politicians to ‘double down’ on kindness

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Independent senator’s goals ‘much bigger’ than prime ministership, he reveals in first speech to National Press Club

He’s six foot tall and full of muscle, but David Pocock’s real strength is often sounding like the most sensible, commonsense voice in the room.

At his first speech to the National Press Club on Wednesday, he said he wasn’t launching a bid for prime minister – no matter how much some people might like the softly spoken senator to have more say in federal politics.

A 25% tax on gas exports, which he said could fund anything from boosting welfare to health reforms and aged care.

A 5% levy on datacentres to capture more benefits from the AI boom.

Transparency reforms to shine a light on lobbyists, secret meetings with politicians and vested interests.

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Police charge accused Brendan Nugent with additional offences – as it happened

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Independent MP’s condition remains critical on Wednesday after surgery to save her remaining leg

Anthony Albanese has described the police interview on Tuesday with Brendan Nugent as “extensive” but that the motivation of the alleged “violent” attack against Helen Haines is still unknown.

Certainly, it’s a reminder that the world is a more dangerous and divided place than it was a generation ago.

But I think that Australians do want to see their politicians be able to go about their business, to be able to get something from the back of their car, for goodness sake.

My side, every side included. We all have to recognise that politics has got more aggressive.

The particular impact on women in politics … [They] have got a different form of vilification and aggression towards them as well.

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Fast-fashion giant Shein outperforms several Australian retailers on ethics, report says

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Ghanda and Windsor Smith are among lowest-rated in Baptist World Aid ethical fashion report based on metrics such as wages and sustainability

Online fast-fashion giant Shein is outperforming many Australian high street retailers on ethical standards, according to an industry review.

The 11th Baptist World Aid ethical fashion report, released on Tuesday, assessed the ethical practices of 138 Australian and international companies, representing 543 fashion brands.

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Brendan Nugent facing three charges over alleged attack on MP Helen Haines

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Victoria police arrested the 43-year-old Tarrawingee man on Monday afternoon after the incident in Wangaratta

Helen Haines’ alleged attacker, Brendan Nugent, has been charged with dangerous driving causing serious injury, intentionally cause serious injury and the commonwealth offence of causing harm to a commonwealth public official.

He will be held overnight to appear at Wangaratta magistrates court on Wednesday, Victoria police confirmed in a statement, adding that it would be alleged the attack was targeted.

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A young life ‘dominated by gambling’: Victorian coroner delivers stinging findings on death of 22-year-old

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Online betting was the ‘direct and paramount’ cause behind Kyle Hudson’s decision to take his own life, inquest finds

Kyle Hudson was “a young man brimming with promise”, with a loving and supportive partner, family and friends, and prospects.

“It was a near ideal picture – except for the grip that online sports betting had upon him,” the Victorian coroner Paul Lawrie said on Tuesday.

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Ellie Goulding admits error over promoting diamonds from controversial Australian mine

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Singer ‘mortified’ about wearing diamonds from Argyle mine at centre of environmental concerns about Indigenous land

The singer Ellie Goulding has admitted her error at having promoted diamonds at the centre of environmental concerns about Indigenous land in Australia, despite having spent years campaigning on environmental issues – including the effects of mining on ancestral lands.

She appeared at a event in London earlier this month for the jewellery brand Boodles, modelling some of its newly acquired pink diamonds, some of which came from a controversial mine in Western Australia.

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Sydney man charged after alleged gunfire prompted Dulwich Hill lockdown

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Police responding to reports of an alleged stolen car in Dulwich Hill were told a man was armed with a firearm

An alleged gunman with “shaggy hair” has been arrested following reports of a confrontation about an allegedly stolen car which was set on fire prompting him to flee the scene.

The 32-year-old man was arrested late Sunday in Sydney’s inner west, after being on the run since Friday morning, following an appeal by the police.

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Jordon Steele-John says ‘I’m not on leave’ and accuses Greens leader of making ‘bad call’ regarding complaints

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Greens senator for WA says complaints regarding his behaviour towards women not about ‘accountability’ but rather ‘factionalism’

Jordon Steele-John has accused an internal faction within the Greens of playing “nasty political games” and the leader, David Shoebridge, of pressuring him to take leave after complaints about his conduct were made public last week.

The 32-year-old Greens senator released a six-page statement on Sunday night after Nine newspapers reported last week that seven party members had demanded an investigation into allegations he had acted inappropriately towards women between 2017 and 2025.

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‘Many family stories’: Tim Winton’s Cloudstreet takes out ABC radio poll of top 100 Australian books

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Markus Zusak’s novel The Book Thief secures second place, while Trent Dalton’s Boy Swallows Universe rounds out podium dominated by men

Cloudstreet, Tim Winton’s sprawling Australian family epic, has been voted Australia’s favourite book in a poll run by ABC Radio National.

The broadcaster announced over the weekend the results of a nationwide poll to determine a list of readers’ top 100 Australian books.

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Indigenous woman shackled to hospital bed while in labour in Queensland

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Birth happens days before Labor and Coalition block bill to ban ‘barbaric practice’ of shackling incarcerated women during childbirth

An incarcerated Indigenous woman was shackled to a hospital bed in Queensland while she was in labour last weekend, an advocacy group has said.

The birth happened just days before Labor and the Coalition blocked a bill to ban the “barbaric practice” of shackling incarcerated women during childbirth.

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Gone to the dogs: racing fans mourn closure of ‘Wenty’, Sydney’s historic greyhound track

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Thousands pack Wentworth Park for the final time before the stadium is demolished and returned to parkland

The end of an era has fallen upon an Australian sporting landmark as the greyhound races at an inner-city track kicked off for the very last time.

Thousands packed into Wentworth Park in central Sydney on Friday night, where greyhound races have been held since 1932, for the last race meeting before the track’s planned demolition.

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