Queensland company accused of bribery in Nauru says charge should be dropped as fair trial ‘impossible’

Exclusive: Lawyers for Getax Australia say ‘unjustified and inexplicable delays’ from the prosecution mean evidence has been lost and essential witnesses have died

A Queensland exporter accused of systematically bribing Nauruan politicians for favourable mining deals on the Pacific island has applied to have a charge of foreign bribery permanently stayed, arguing “a fair trial is impossible” and accusing Australian authorities of mishandling the investigation and losing key evidence.

Court documents obtained by the Guardian reveal that lawyers for Getax Australia Pty Ltd have applied for a permanent stay. If successful, it would effectively permanently halt the company’s prosecution.

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US clean energy drive fuels shortage of engineers in Australia

Australia has to make the case it is an attractive place to live with a solid commitment to renewable energy to counter America’s Inflation Reduction Act, experts say

Australia’s rush to build renewable energy fast enough to replace ageing coal-fired power stations is being fettered by the US’s own clean energy push that is luring key talent, particularly engineers, industry officials say.

America’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), passed just over a year ago, will pour at least US$370bn (A$570bn) into clean energy programs. Groups such as the Clean Energy Council warn the program “has the potential to permanently tilt the scales toward the US and hamper our progress in Australia”.

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Byron’s proposed 60-day Airbnb cap unlikely to come into effect until next year despite housing crisis

If approved by NSW government, it will apply only to Byron and not other councils struggling amid the state-wide housing shortage

Byron council’s planned 60-day cap on short-term rentals like Airbnbs to ease pressure on the housing market would not come into effect until the middle of next year if the government decides to allow it, the holiday hotspot’s mayor says.

And if the tightened rules are approved by the New South Wales government, they will just apply to Byron and not other councils also struggling with housing amid a state-wide shortage.

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Major Australian ski resort Perisher closes some lifts for season ‘ahead of schedule’ due to lack of snow

Decision comes after Bureau of Meteorology confirmed the warmest winter since official records began

Perisher ski resort will stop operating lifts at two of its four areas on Sunday afternoon due to a lack of snow, signalling an early end to the season.

The decision to close Blue Cow and Guthega areas came as the Bureau of Meteorology confirmed the warmest winter since official records began in 1910, with average daily temperatures 1.53C above the long-term average.

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Littleproud says ‘there’ll be no victory lap’ if voice fails – as it happened

Nationals leader backs Peter Dutton’s call to hold a referendum on Indigenous recognition if the voice to parliament vote fails in October. This blog is now closed

Reforms ensure basic standards around pay and working conditions: Burke

Burke has also flagged reforms to ensure gig workers have some basic minimum standards around pay and conditions. Burke says the government reforms are not designed to “break the technology”.

There is no doubt that when people are ultimately receiving really low wages then making ends meet is tougher, and that puts extra pressure on you to take risks.

Riders have spoken to me about it and they say quite specifically that part of the desperation is you are just not earning enough to make ends meet.

We’re talking about the crime being for intentional wage theft, that’s where someone knows the rules. They know exactly what they’re doing. It is the cases where somebody knows that someone is meant to be paid more and they don’t care because they think they can get away with it, and they know that up until now the worse they will have to do is just pay the money back at a later point in time. So wage theft has nothing to do with complexity. It is about theft.

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‘Trumpian era’ of disinformation makes voice yes campaign job more difficult, Megan Davis says

Architect of the Uluru statement criticises some media outlets for highlighting misinformation being shared on social media platforms

Key yes campaigner and architect of the Uluru statement from the heart, Prof Megan Davis, has accused the no campaign of relying on Trumpian disinformation, conceding it has made the job of persuading Australians more difficult.

During an event to launch a new television ad featuring John Farnham’s song, You’re the Voice, Davis also criticised some media outlets for highlighting disinformation being shared on social media platforms, particularly Facebook.

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Indigenous leaders dismiss Peter Dutton’s vow to hold recognition referendum if voice vote fails

Opposition leader says constitutional recognition is ‘the right thing to do’ but Indigenous leader accuses him of ‘not listening’

Indigenous leaders have dismissed opposition leader Peter Dutton’s promise to hold another referendum on constitutional recognition if the voice vote fails and the Coalition win the next election.

Dutton told Sky News on Sunday that, if elected, his party would send Australians back to the ballot box to vote on constitutional recognition, instead of a voice to parliament, saying it is “the right thing to do” and that he supported “regional voices”.

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Australian employers who deliberately underpay workers to face million-dollar fines or up to 10 years in jail

Workplace relations minister Tony Burke says he is ‘surprised’ move to close loopholes has been controversial

Workplace relations minister Tony Burke has said sending employers to jail for wage theft is a loophole that needs to close, adding he is surprised it has been controversial.

The minister also has hit back again at industry critics warning the laws promising to improve conditions for gig workers will make services more expensive.

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Police investigate after $30m super yacht destroyed by fire in Sydney

Only debris remained after crews were unable to extinguish the blaze that engulfed the multimillion dollar vessel

Police and fire investigators are looking into the cause of a blaze that sank a $30m super yacht owned by Australian-British businessman Michael Hintze in Sydney on Saturday night.

Police said emergency crews were called to a dock fire on Clarke Road at Woolwich on Sydney’s lower north shore just after 8pm on Saturday night to find the 195-foot (59-metre) vessel, the Andiamo, fully engulfed.

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‘Disastrous’: low-income tenants priced out of newly renovated boarding houses

Professionals seeking affordable housing are displacing those at risk of homelessness as rents soar

When a boarding house in Sydney’s inner-west was razed by arson last year, taking with it the lives of three residents and leaving eight without homes, the hope was that it would be replaced with a newer, safer version of the same low-cost community housing.

But 12 months is a long time in Sydney’s rampant rental market.

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NSW police arrest one man and hunt two others allegedly involved in Sydney crash that killed siblings

Woman, 24, and her brother, 15, died after their Toyota Echo was hit by a Mercedes in Heckenberg smash

Police have arrested a 20-year-old man after the deaths of a woman and her teenage brother in a high-speed, three-car crash in Sydney’s south-west.

Two other men allegedly involved in the crash are being sought by New South Wales police.

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Australian police to remain in Solomon Islands until elections in 2024, Honiara says

Announcement comes as concerns grow in west over Pacific nation’s ties with China

Australian police will stay in Solomon Islands to provide security for a regional sporting event in November and national elections in 2024, the Pacific Island nation’s government has said.

The number of officers will increase before November’s Pacific Games, when 5,000 athletes from two dozen nations are expected to arrive, according to a statement on Solomon Islands Broadcasting’s Facebook page posted late on Friday.

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More decapitated crocodiles found in Queensland amid reports of body part black market

Local Aboriginal land council says at least six crocodiles have been found shot dead in the past two months

Queensland wildlife officers are investigating the deaths and beheadings of several large crocodiles near the remote town of Normanton, in what appears to be a growing problem in the state.

Rangers from the Carpentaria Land Council Aboriginal Corporation (CLAC) have reported six crocodiles shot in the past two months, with some of the dead carcasses missing their heads.

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‘Only at Qantas’: workers express disbelief at CEO Alan Joyce’s $10m share windfall

Unions say bonus payments, revealed to the ASX on Friday, ‘reward management for short-term thinking and cost cutting’

The unions representing Qantas workers have reacted incredulously to the news outgoing CEO Alan Joyce has pocketed more than $10m in shares for meeting the company’s Covid-19 goals.

On Friday Qantas announced to the ASX that Joyce had received 1.74m shares, valued at just over $10m, under the company’s long-term incentive and Covid recovery retention plans. Chief financial officer Vanessa Hudson, Joyce’s likely successor, also took home $2m worth.

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University of Sydney one of 15 higher education institutions not to have a position on the voice

Indigenous faculty members say the leadership of Australia’s oldest university could have been ‘much braver’

The University of Sydney is one of 15 Australian higher education institutions that have neglected to take a position on the Indigenous voice to parliament, as pressure mounts on the sector to step up its support ahead of the referendum.

Of Australia’s 41 universities, 25 have backed the recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the constitution, and 15 have withheld from a view. The University of Newcastle will reveal its position next month.

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Australian households on six-figure incomes can now only afford 13% of homes

New report shows housing affordability has reached its lowest levels in decades as market continues to rebound

Rising interest rates and surging home prices have seen Australian housing affordability crash to its lowest levels in decades, according to a new report.

A household earning the median income of $105,000 can now only comfortably afford 13% of homes on the market, the lowest share since the relevant data was first collected in 1995, according to property data company PropTrack.

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Queensland man extradited to NSW for allegedly disposing of dead body in Bunnings cabinet

Police say accused was called in ‘as a cleaner’ by another man who has been charged with drug dealer’s murder

NSW police have charged a Queensland man they believe was involved in the disposal of a murdered man’s body found in a metal container floating in a rural creek.

The 33-year-old was arrested in Brisbane in May after NSW homicide detectives travelled to the city while investigating the disappearance of a 22-year-old man they believed was selling illicit drugs in Sydney.

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Disability groups hit out at move to drop Queensland Health vaccine mandate

‘Come and live in somebody’s shoes who is at high risk of serious complications from the flu or Covid,’ disability advocate says

People with disability are more likely to feel unsafe in Queensland health institutions and may even avoid them after the state launched plans to drop its vaccine mandate for health staff, according to an advocacy group.

Nicole Lee, president of People with Disability Australia, said Queensland had been a leader in Covid protections and she had hoped the state might make the mandate permanent.

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Icebreaker sails to Antarctica to rescue sick Australian expedition member

Exclusive: RSV Nuyina steaming 3,500km to Casey station to pick up the person who needs treatment for a ‘developing medical condition.

An urgent evacuation operation has been launched to assist an Australian with a “developing medical condition” at the remote Casey research station in Antarctica.

Australia’s icebreaking vessel, RSV Nuyina, left Hobart last week and is sailing thousands of kilometres to collect the expedition member, whose medical condition has not been confirmed but requires specialist treatment and care.

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Covid cycling boom has ended with just one-third of Australians riding in 2023

Riding most popular in Victoria and the Northern Territory with Tasmania at the bottom of the pile, new survey suggests

A pandemic bicycle boom has faded, with the latest statistics showing many people feel it is too dangerous to ride on Australian roads.

There has been a steady decline in people cycling at least once during a 12-month period over the past decade, from about 40% in 2011 down to 34.2% in 2017.

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