Category Archives: Australia news

Knock down a few, build one: in NSW that counts as a gain for councils’ housing targets

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Exclusive: Metrics reflect gross addition to supply, even as unit blocks in affluent Sydney suburbs are being replaced by luxury single properties

Luxury homes built on the site of former unit blocks in Sydney are counting towards council targets for new dwellings, even where they have reduced the available housing stock by displacing multiple properties.

A swathe of interwar apartment buildings in Sydney’s eastern suburbs and inner city face the wrecking ball, to be replaced with modern residences, as Guardian Australia revealed on Wednesday.

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Anti-pokies campaigners bid to stop doubling of machines in two Alice Springs pubs

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Northern Territory government approval will be contested at a tribunal, with activists arguing the expansion will hurt Indigenous communities

A Northern Territory government decision to approve a doubling of the number of gaming machines in two Alice Springs pubs will be contested by local anti-pokies campaigners who are concerned the move would further exacerbate social problems.

The challenge to the decisions made by the director of gaming machines, Philip Timney, to expand the number of pokies from 10 to 20 at both the Todd Tavern and Gap View Hotel will be heard in the NT civil and administrative tribunal on Friday.

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‘Deeply disturbed’: names of 64 alleged child sex abuse victims mistakenly given to media in Queensland court blunder

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Exclusive: Authorities move to notify families after children’s names were provided in unredacted documents

Authorities are notifying the families of 64 alleged victims of an accused Queensland paedophile after their identities were mistakenly made available to journalists.

The state’s attorney general, Yvette D’Ath, apologised for the “breach of victims’ privacy” on Friday morning and announced an inquiry into the error.

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‘Real love’ or false advertising? eHarmony sued by ACCC over ‘free dating’ offer

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Watchdog alleges US-based site misled consumers about pricing, renewal and duration of memberships

A popular online dating site has been accused by the consumer watchdog of entrapping singles by only showing them blurred photos of their matches and then locking them in a cycle of membership renewal.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission launched federal court action against the US-based eHarmony on Thursday, alleging it breached consumer law by making misleading statements about pricing, renewal and duration of memberships.

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Australia politics live: Kylea Tink calls out ‘overly aggressive and personalised’ question time debate

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If you want to make a submission to the government about the Australian aviation industry, the link to the green paper is here

The green paper is public consultation. It comes before the white paper, which is a discussion paper provided to the parliament. White papers lay out the issues with context (the whole picture as it were) and then make recommendations on what needs to happen.

I consulted colleagues prior to the decision, but the decision was mine.

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Outgoing RBA governor Philip Lowe says tough decisions made him ‘very unpopular’

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At a speech in Sydney, Philip Lowe has said some of his economic explanations ‘missed the mark’ but that media should avoid ‘clickbait’

Philip Lowe has used his final public comments as governor of the Reserve Bank to defend his more controversial comments, saying while some of his explanations had “missed the mark” the media also had a responsibility to avoid “clickbait”.

“Raising interest rates and tightening policy can make you very unpopular, as I know all too well,” Lowe told a Sydney function on Thursday for the Anika Foundation. “This means that it is easier for an independent central bank to do this than it is for politicians.”

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WA active shooter: police warn residents about man dressed in camouflage after incident at grain silo

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Police urge residents to stay indoors as armed man believed to be travelling on foot around Mission Road, Kellerberrin

Western Australia police are hunting for an “active shooter” in the Kellerberrin and Bencubbin areas after a man was shot and injured during an incident at a grain silo.

The alleged shooter is believed to be armed, dressed in camouflage clothing, and travelling on foot around Mission Road.

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Inquiry into sexual abuse at a Melbourne school to probe allegations at 18 others

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Kathleen Foley, SC, says inquiry will examine other schools where former Beaumaris teachers had worked

An inquiry into historical child sexual abuse at a Melbourne primary school in the 1960s and 1970s will investigate allegations at 18 other state schools where the same teachers also worked.

The Andrews government in June announced a board of inquiry into historical abuse allegations at Beaumaris primary school, in Melbourne’s south-east.

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Environmentalists condemn Australia’s ‘woeful record’ after 48 plants and animals added to threatened species list

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Tanya Plibersek announces crayfish, frogs, insects and plants among wildlife now under threat amid renewed calls for reform

More than 40 plants and animals have been added to Australia’s list of threatened wildlife, including crayfish, frogs, insects and several plants, in what environment groups say is another reminder of the urgent need for reform.

The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, announced the bulloak jewel butterfly, Kate’s leaf-tail gecko, and 16 types of native spiny crayfish were among 48 species that had “been given greater protection under Australia’s national environmental law” by joining the threatened list.

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Sarah Holland-Batt wins $25,000 top prize at Queensland literary awards

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The poet’s premier’s award for The Jaguar, a collection about the death of her father, follows Stella prize win earlier this year

Sarah Holland-Batt’s “technically brilliant and experimental” poetry collection about the death of her father, The Jaguar, has won the $25,000 top prize at the Queensland literary awards, fresh after her Stella prize win earlier this year.

The 40-year-old’s third collection, covering her father’s diagnosis with Parkinson’s disease, his time in aged care and his death two decades later, won the premier’s award for a work of state significance on Wednesday night.

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Former Qantas boss Alan Joyce to front Senate inquiry into blocked Qatar Airways flights

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Transport minister Catherine King revealed in question time on Wednesday that she spoke with Virgin Australia before blocking the request

Former Qantas boss Alan Joyce will be called to front a Senate inquiry over his discussions with the federal government in the lead up to a ruling that blocked competitor airlines from offering more flights.

Other witnesses to be invited to give their side of the story include Joyce’s successor, Vanessa Hudson, along with officials from Qatar Airways, Virgin Australia and regional airline, Rex.

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Five killed as elevator at Bali resort plunges down ravine

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Accident at Ubud’s Ayuterra Resort believed to have occurred when cable in inclined lift carrying hotel staff snapped

Balinese police are investigating the catastrophic failure of a lift that left five hotel workers dead at a resort on Friday.

The accident took place at Ubud’s Ayuterra Resort about 1pm and is believed to have occurred when a cable in the inclined lift carrying the three women and two men snapped, plunging them 100 metres down a steep ravine at the hillside resort.

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AFP calls on public to donate childhood photos in bid to combat child abuse with AI

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Project with Monash University will use images to train system to recognise pictures of children on dark web

The Australian federal police want the public to donate their childhood photos to an artificial intelligence project aimed at helping save children from abuse.

The project, run by AFP and Monash University, will help detect child abuse material on the dark web, or on devices that have been seized during criminal investigations.

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Labor demands investigation into Liberal party’s ‘misleading’ postal vote strategy for the voice

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Liberals brush off calls for AEC to investigate website that offers non-existent postal vote registrations

Labor has called for an investigation into the Liberal party’s “misleading” postal vote strategy for the voice referendum.

The Liberals have been accused of “dirty tactics” for sending out anti-voice pamphlets that include a QR code for postal vote registrations. That link takes voters to a party website to gather their personal information, despite the fact postal vote registrations are not yet open.

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NT ordered to pay $1m in damages to youths teargassed in 2014 Don Dale disturbance

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Justice rules use of gas was unlawful and says there was ‘high-handedness or disparaging comments’ by officers towards Indigenous detainees

The Northern Territory government has been ordered to pay almost $1m in damages to four former detainees who were unlawfully teargassed during an incident at the notorious Don Dale youth detention centre.

According to a supreme court judgment delivered last week, Keiran Webster, Leroy O’Shea, Ethan Austral and Josiah Binsaris were entitled to exemplary damages after officers in the centre deployed CS gas, a form of teargas, to “incapacitate” another boy during a “serious disturbance” in 2014.

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Question time chaos – as it happened

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This blog is now closed.

Tasmanian hospitals experiencing significant demand, public asked to reconsider attending

Tasmanians are being urged to stay away from the state’s two main hospitals unless it’s an emergency as they face “significant demand”.

The hospitals are closely managing elective surgery activity to maintain access for emergency demand. This includes working with private hospitals to access contracted bed capacity and elective surgery.”

I think the Qantas board has to seriously consider some of the decisions that they have been making. I mean, not for nothing, you’re in front of the competition watchdog for what is alleged to be quite egregious behaviour.

You have also sought to, as I said, keep on your balance sheet half a billion dollars of your customers’ money rather than giving it back in the middle of a cost of living crisis. (The flight credits)

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Facility accused of exorcisms and gay conversion practices applied for funding a month after Morrison announced it

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Freedom of information documents show officials scrambling for information after then PM announced $4m for Esther Foundation

The Esther Foundation – a rehabilitation facility accused of performing exorcisms and gay conversions – applied for “promised funding” a month after the funding had been announced.

Freedom of information documents show the health department rushing to get information after the then prime minister, Scott Morrison, announced $4m for the group in the lead-up to the 2019 election.

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Labor’s refusal to tie public hospital funding to full reproductive care condemned as ‘outrageous’

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Women forced to ‘shop around’ for abortion care due to Catholic public hospitals’ refusal to provide terminations

Despite harrowing stories from women about having to “shop around” for abortion care even when their pregnancies are unviable, the federal government will not make providing abortion services a condition tied to millions of dollars in funding it allocates to major public hospitals.

An investigation by Guardian Australia detailed the still widespread practice of Catholic hospitals across Australia using the cover of religion to opt out of providing reproductive care, with devastating consequences.

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Australia urged to expand flights to Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam in blueprint to boost trade

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Anthony Albanese will launch strategy amid intense debate over decision to block Qatar Airways’ request for further flights to Australia

Australia should expand flights to key south-east Asian markets such as Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, according to a sweeping economic blueprint to boost trade.

The strategy, to be released by the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, on Wednesday, also calls on the government to cut foreign investment barriers, fast track visas and urgently improve Australia’s “south-east Asia literacy”.

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The RBA’s interest rate-rising looks done – and a soft landing for the economy could be on

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Australia’s economy might be just where Philip Lowe wants it – barring any nasty surprise – as he hands over to Michele Bullock

As two of Australia’s more contentious figures Philip Lowe and Alan Joyce head towards their gilded departure lounges, the economy seems set in a holding pattern with improving prospects of a desired soft landing.

To be sure, a happy outcome of a jobless rate remaining within cooee of 4%, wages finally catching if not outpacing inflation, and even the federal budget staying in the black a bit longer is far from assured.

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