Category Archives: Australia news

Global heating will hit at least 1.8C, UN warns, and there are ‘no good outcomes’

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But scientists say the world could get back to 1.5C through deep, rapid emissions cuts and removing carbon from the atmosphere

Global heating will reach at least 1.8C under even the most optimistic future, well beyond the Paris agreement goal of 1.5C, according to a UN report that warns every fraction of temperature rise intensifies destructive extreme weather, glacier melt, ecosystem loss, and island and coastal city submersion.

The report by the Nairobi-based UN Environment Programme confirmed overshooting the 1.5C goal inscribed in the landmark Paris agreement of 2015 was now “unavoidable” and, despite some progress in addressing the human-caused climate crisis driven by burning fossil fuels, likely in the next few years.

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NSW government to resume pill testing at music festivals but rejects calls for wider community rollout

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Use of sniffer dogs and searches will continue despite health and harm reduction groups arguing they could lead to riskier drug taking

Drug testing will resume at New South Wales music festivals from October, but will not be rolled out into the wider community despite calls from peak health and harm reduction groups, while the controversial use of sniffer dogs and searches will continue.

On Wednesday the state government announced NSW Health will consult with the music festival industry and harm reduction organisations to roll out pill testing at up to 15 music festivals each year.

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Macquarie University swaps in-person psychology classes with AI chatbot for two subjects

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University’s move is part of trend that critics within academia say will lead to further staff cuts and the loss of ‘everything that makes the job worth doing’

An Australian university has swapped in-person classes with an AI chatbot, online quizzes and optional online tutorials in two subjects as institutions give the technology more teaching responsibilities.

Macquarie University’s “Virtual Peer” is part of each week’s learning in two mandatory Psychology units, programmed to ask students questions and guide them through scenario-based exercises.

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Inside knowledge or ‘making stuff up’? Charles Perrottet’s advice to Jean Nassif put under microscope by Icac

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Brother of former treasurer and premier faces questions about texts that appear to indicate he was aware of fast-tracking policy before it was announced

Did the former premier’s brother, Charles Perrottet, have prior knowledge of a Covid-era New South Wales government policy to introduce a fast track to approve major developments?

Did he take steps to ensure that developments owned by the fugitive developer, Jean Nassif, were successful through the fast track?

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Newborn baby’s body found in Sydney rubbish bin as police hold ‘serious concerns’ for mother

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Police urge mother to attend hospital after baby’s body discovered in Harrow Road in Auburn

New South Wales police have appealed for information to find the mother of a newborn baby boy, whose body was discovered in a rubbish bin in Auburn in Sydney’s west on Monday morning.

Police said emergency services responded to reports of the body of a baby located in a rubbish bin at a unit block along Harrow Road in Auburn at 11.20am, with officers from the Auburn police area command finding the body of a newborn boy.

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Man who murdered Molly Ticehurst unlikely to face life in jail, court hears

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Justice Natalie Adams says she is troubled by expert evidence about rape allegations in slain woman’s police statement

Molly Ticehurst’s ex-boyfriend is unlikely to face a life sentence for her domestic violence murder, a crime which galvanised a national movement against gendered abuse.

Ticehurst, a 28-year-old childcare educator, was found dead in her home at Forbes, in the New South Wales central-west, in the early hours of 22 April 2024.

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Australian boxing great Tony Mundine dies aged 75

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Father of former boxer and NRL star Anthony Mundine had a heart attack on Sunday

Indigenous Australian boxing great Tony Mundine has died, aged 75.

The father of former boxer and NRL star Anthony Mundine had a heart attack on Sunday.

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Cash settlements on home insurance claims leaving vulnerable Australians short-changed, Asic says

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Corporate regulator finds insurers settling most claims with cash rather than by managing repairs or rebuilding, warning of ‘unfair outcomes’ for homeowners

Home insurers are overwhelmingly paying cash to settle claims, leaving Australians to foot blowouts in repair costs for their cyclone-damaged homes.

The corporate regulator is calling for “realistic” bigger payouts, warning the practice could cause “unfair outcomes” for people already in vulnerable positions.

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Statins can safely cut risk of heart attacks or strokes in healthy people aged over 70, world-first clinical trial shows

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Australian-led trial finds low risk of side effects from common cholesterol-lowering medication for otherwise healthy older people

Taking a common cholesterol-lowering medication can reduce the risk of a heart attack or stroke for people aged over 70, with a low risk of serious side effects, a world-first clinical trial led by Australian researchers has found.

Statins are already commonly prescribed to people under the age of 75 who meet certain risk criteria, such as having diabetes and high cholesterol, to prevent them from having a major heart event such as a heart attack, stroke, or from requiring heart surgery.

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Plug-in solar panels could save households up to $370 a year – if Australia made them legal as in the UK

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A plug-in solar kit that costs about $1,000 ‘pays for itself in three years’, one expert says

Millions of Australians could be saving up to $370 a year on energy bills and doing their bit for the climate crisis if Labor followed the UK’s lead in legalising plug-in solar panels, an advocacy group has said.

Plug-in solar refers to small standalone solar units that could be attached to balconies or used in back yards and plugged into power points, offsetting the energy used by household appliances.

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Controversial plans for a Daniel Andrews sculpture officially scrapped by Victorian government

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The $134,000 cost of the statue of the former Victorian premier has been heavily criticised by the Liberal opposition

The Carroll government in Victoria has cancelled controversial plans for a statue of former Labor premier Daniel Andrews.

Work began in May on the statue commemorating the former premier’s more than 3,000 days in office, as part of a 1999 policy recognising long-serving Victorian premiers.

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Charles Perrottet becomes Icac’s main character amid claims of hidden payments and political hit jobs

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The brother of former premier questioned over what, if anything, was done in return for $2m from developer turned fugitive Jean Nassif

Finally, we are hearing from one of the central characters, Charles Perrottet, in a saga that has occupied the Independent Commission against Corruption (Icac) for nearly four years.

It began with the dismissal of the Hills Shire council and a late night 2022 speech in NSW parliament alleging secret payments from a developer. It pirouetted to a pressure campaign allegedly to remove the then NSW building commissioner, and ended with real world impacts: defective high-rise buildings and thousands of unhappy homebuyers, with the developer nowhere to be seen.

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Dolphin dies from H5 bird flu in SA as researchers withdrawn from sub-Antarctic island over ‘psychosocial risk’

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Australian government announces 24 expeditioners based at research station on Macquarie Island will be evacuated over possible ‘prolonged psychological stress’

A dolphin has died from H5 bird flu in South Australia, marking the second native mammal species known to have contracted the virus.

It comes as the federal government announced it would withdraw researchers from the sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island research station due to the “psychosocial risk” of witnessing potential mass seal deaths from H5N1 during the upcoming seal breeding season.

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Identity of high-profile Queensland man drawn into extortion case to remain secret after court ruling

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Man – referred to as MM by court – will keep his identity hidden after legal challenge against suppression dismissed

The identity of a high-profile Queensland man drawn into a Cairns extortion case will remain secret, after the state’s supreme court threw out a legal challenge against a suppression order.

The man – referred to as MM by the court – was drawn into an extortion case earlier this year. He is not a party to the case and is not accused of any offence.

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Bondi library returns book How to Sell a Genocide to shelves after State Library ‘outlines the law’

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Book was removed for review earlier this month following complaint but reinstated after petition and State Library letter to Waverley council

A Sydney library has returned to its borrowing shelves a book critical of Israel called How to Sell a Genocide following a public campaign and an intervention from the State Library of New South Wales.

Waverley library removed the book “for review” earlier this month after the Jewish news outlet JWire reported it had approached the council.

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‘Confluence of errors’ led to Belgian tourist Celine Cremer’s death in Tasmanian wilderness, coroner finds

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Coroner finds 31-year-old deviated from a walking track as dusk fell, four days before the winter solstice

Overlapping errors, including a lack of preparation in near-freezing winter weather, contributed to the death of a Belgian tourist on a wilderness track.

Celine Cremer set off on a walk at Philosopher Falls in Tasmania’s remote north-west on 17 June 2023 and was reported missing almost 10 days later.

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One Nation’s immigration policy is clear as mud – but that ambiguity could be a secret weapon for Pauline Hanson

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The party’s key figures are either unable or unwilling to neatly articulate their migration targets, contradicting one another – and themselves

One Nation has experienced a swell in popular support in the past year, and has primarily done so off the back of tough talk on immigration – a policy area almost synonymous with its leader, Pauline Hanson.

But a series of blunders this week show a party unable, or unwilling, to clearly articulate what it would actually do about immigration levels.

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Queensland concedes law imposing mandatory jail on some offenders as young as 10 breaches human rights

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State government says ‘breach bail, go to jail’ laws raise risk of overcrowding in jails, while one expert warns they may lead to ‘cruel outcomes’

The Queensland government’s latest law and order crackdown – subjecting some children as young as 10 to a mandatory sentence of a year behind bars – could lead to “cruel outcomes”, according to human rights lawyers.

In documents tabled with the legislation on Thursday, the government conceded its laws, dubbed “breach bail, go to jail”, would breach human rights and risk further straining the state’s overcrowded jails, youth detention centres and police watch houses.

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News live: dozens of Australians believed to be among hundreds of foreign tourists missing in Nepal flash floods

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Powerful floods in Himalayan border area sweep away houses, roads and bridges. Follow today’s news live

Dfat aware of a ‘number’ of Australians in flood zone

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Dfat) said it is aware of a “number” of Australians in the area affected by the flooding, saying officials stand ready to provide consular assistance.

We extend our deepest sympathies to those affected by the significant flooding in Nepal and Tibet, China.

Australians in the affected area should follow the advice of local authorities.

We are deeply saddened by the devastating flooding in Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts and surrounding areas.

Our thoughts are with all those affected by this disaster. We express our solidarity with the people of Nepal during this difficult time.

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Ending private health rebate for Australians 65 and over is ‘good policy change’, report co-author finds

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Research finds just 0.1-0.4% of the total insured population will ditch insurance, while the government will save as much as $940m a year

Removing the higher private health insurance rebate for people aged 65 and over is good policy that is unlikely to place additional pressure on public hospitals, according to health economists.

The proposed changes, set to take effect in April 2027, will mean the private health insurance rebate will depend only on how much money a person earns – matching the rules for people aged under 65.

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