Category Archives: Australia news

Victorian government hired lawyers weeks before Commonwealth Games cancellation

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Law firm was engaged well before cabinet decision to cancel 2026 event, but Jacinta Allan says it came amid rising cost estimates

The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has confirmed that the state government hired lawyers weeks before the public was told that it was cancelling the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

But she has denied that the law firm Arnold Bloch Leibler’s sole role was to terminate the multimillion-dollar contract.

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Australia’s system of indefinite immigration detention to face high court challenge

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Lawyers for stateless Rohingya refugee seek to overturn 20-year-old precedent that allows those who can’t be deported to be kept detained

Australia’s system of indefinite immigration detention is set to be challenged in a bid to overturn a 20-year-old high court precedent keeping hundreds of people who can’t be deported in detention.

Lawyers for NZYQ, the pseudonym of a stateless Rohingya refugee, have told the high court their client, aged 28 to 30, “may potentially be detained for life” unless it rules that people can only be held temporarily to facilitate their deportation.

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‘Staggering’ rise of gambling among school-age children leads to calls for urgent inquiry

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Exclusive: Without action, a ‘generation of young people’ could be addicted to gambling, says independent MP pushing for government to urgently intervene

MPs have called for an urgent parliamentary inquiry into the impact of advertising on children and young people by harmful industries after revelations by Guardian Australia of a 16% rise in young people seeking help for gambling in the last financial year.

The call, led by Dr Sophie Scamps, has been supported by the Greens and fellow Independent MPs including Andrew Wilkie, Monique Ryan, Zoe Daniel and Kate Chaney. Scamps said without action, advertising targeting children “at this vulnerable stage of life could create a generation of young people addicted to gambling”.

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Timor-Leste president hits back at Australian criticism of new partnership with China

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José Ramos-Horta rejects concerns about plan that includes enhanced military engagement as ‘imagined Chinese ghosts’

Timor-Leste’s president has hit back at criticism of a new partnership between his country and China, which includes plans to enhance military engagement, accusing detractors of “imagining Chinese ghosts”.

José Ramos-Horta, serving as president for the second time, told the Guardian that both Timor-Leste and China were “confused” by the concerns raised over the upgrading of ties between the two countries to a “comprehensive strategic partnership” announced last week.

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Catherine King refuses to front ‘political stunt’ senate inquiry into Qatar Airways decision

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Transport minister says it is ‘long-standing practice’ not to appear and says she is doing the ‘hard work the Coalition never did’

Transport minister Catherine King has shot down calls for her to appear before a senate inquiry examining her decision to reject Qatar Airways’ request for extra flights to Australia, labelling the probe “a political stunt”.

The senate select committee on bilateral air agreements was launched in response to outcry from the aviation and tourism sectors over the Albanese government’s decision to block Qatar Airways proposal to almost double its flights into major cities, and questions about the influence of key rival Qantas in the process.

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World’s tallest wooden building to be built in Perth after developers win approval

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Developers say South Perth’s C6 building will be made up of 42% timber and be carbon negative

Western Australia is set to become home to the world’s tallest timber building, a “revolutionary” 50-storey hybrid design reaching a height of 191.2 metres.

Timber will make up 42% of South Perth’s C6 building, including the tower’s beams, floor panels, studs, joinery and linings.

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Australian fires: residents of NSW towns urged to take shelter as Victorian warnings downgraded

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Emergency alerts have been issued in the Cessnock and Bega Valley regions of NSW, but warnings in Gippsland have been downgraded

Residents are being warned to take shelter as fire crews battle to bring bushfires in the New South Wales south coast and Hunter regions under control, with those living in several towns told that it is too late for them to leave.

In NSW, the rural fire service (RFS) issued emergency alerts warning that it was too late to leave the towns of Abernethy and Elrington, near the Hunter Valley city of Cessnock, along with Bermagui, Cuttagee, Barragga Bay, Murrah and Bunga in the Bega Valley on the state’s south coast, on Tuesday afternoon.

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Sydney man accused of murdering his mother while out on bail for allegedly assaulting her

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Troy Safranko was arrested and then released on Saturday on the condition he not return to his mother’s house


A man has been accused of returning to his mother’s home and killing her, and her cat, a day after he was granted bail for allegedly assaulting her.

Troy Safranko, 31, was accused of assaulting and choking his mother, Katherine Safranko, at her Bankstown home on Friday morning.

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Victoria to expand vacant residential land tax across state in bid to increase housing supply

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The surprise announcement came on the first day of parliament since Jacinta Allan became premier

Victoria’s treasurer has shocked the property industry and even some of his colleagues by announcing an expansion of taxes on vacant residential land during Jacinta Allan’s first day of parliament as premier.

Tim Pallas told an industry breakfast on Tuesday that he planned to introduce legislation to parliament this week, which will see the vacant residential land tax expanded to include the whole state from 1 January 2025.

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Hanson-Young labels Dutton’s voice campaigning ‘sinister’ – as it happened

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This blog is now closed.

Residents of Pine Scrub and Leeka in Tasmania urged to leave amid out of control fire

A bushfire emergency warning has been issued to the Tasmanian communities of Pine Scrub and Leeka.

Burning embers may threaten your home before the main fire arrives.

Smoke and ash may make it difficult to see and breathe.

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Meta fights Andrew Forrest for documents in battle over alleged crypto scam

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Facebook owner issues summons to demand files as it prepares defence over accusations it allowed bogus ads to use billionaire’s image

Facebook’s parent company Meta has issued a summons for billionaire Andrew Forrest to hand over sensitive documents amid a legal battle over an alleged cryptocurrency clickbait advertising scam.

Lawyers for the tech giant took the unusual step of issuing a summons to demand 20 categories of documents, alleging the mining magnate’s lawyers had failed to hand over papers relevant to the legal battle.

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Labor to spend $37.8m to weed out ‘bottom feeders’ among vocational education providers

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The ‘compliance blitz’ aims to crack down on rorts in the sector with the establishment of an integrity unit

The federal government will launch a $37.8m “compliance blitz” to crack down on unlawful behaviour in Australia’s vocational education and training (Vet) sector as part of a suite of measures to clean up dodgy providers in international education.

Speaking at the National Press Club on Tuesday, the minister for skills and training, Brendan O’Connor, will announce the establishment of an integrity unit within the regulator to identify and address threats to Vet.

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Guardian Essential poll: yes vote gains ground but no still ahead on Indigenous voice

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Latest survey suggests 28% of voters remain in play as Anthony Albanese says one-on-one chats will shape referendum outcome

More Australians intend to vote no than yes in the voice referendum on 14 October, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll.

But the new poll has recorded the first positive shift towards yes in several months, as the historic referendum campaign enters the decisive stretch.

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‘Sovereign citizen’ conspiracists targeting Aboriginal Australians put native title claims at risk

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Anthropologist Pascale Taplin says native title being likened to ‘slave’s title’, as conspiracists exploit concept of Indigenous sovereignty

Indigenous Australians are backing out of participating in native title claims after being targeted by proponents of a racist conspiracy theory exported from the US, according to new research.

Senior anthropologist Pascale Taplin is the lead author of a new paper warning sovereign citizen conspiracists are exploiting the concept of Indigenous sovereignty to target Aboriginal communities, disrupting native title claims in the process.

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Australia records driest September as fires rage in NSW, Victoria and Tasmania

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The month was also Australia’s third-warmest September on record as El Niño and the climate crisis combined

Australia has recorded its driest September since records began in 1900 with a national rainfall average of just 4.83mm.

The data from the Bureau of Meteorology on Monday came as fires burned out of control in Victoria and New South Wales amid warnings of potential flash flooding later in the week.

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Voice to parliament referendum: early voting opens as yes and no campaigners hit the hustings

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Early polling locations open in Victoria, Tasmania, WA and NT with other states to follow on Tuesday

Campaigners for both sides of the Indigenous voice referendum have hit the hustings as early voting opens across the country.

The yes and no campaigns have less than two weeks to make their case over whether to enshrine an Indigenous advisory body in the constitution.

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Australia news live: September was driest month since records began; Victoria and Tasmania fires

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Bushfires prompt evacuation warnings in Tasmania as house destroyed in Gippsland and fire bans declared in four states. Follow today’s news live

Man allegedly set on fire at Deniliquin Ute Muster festival

Police are appealing for information after a man was allegedly set on fire at a New South Wales festival over the weekend.

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NT road crash: police struggle to identify six victims of fiery crash

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Two adults and four children won’t be identified until later this week following intense fire when 4WD collided with truck on Stuart Highway on Friday

Very few human remains were found following a horror road crash that killed six people – two adults and four children – in the Northern Territory, authorities say.

A four-wheel drive carrying six people was on fire for more than five hours after colliding with a road train near a small town in the Katherine region on Friday afternoon.

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Betting agency’s $40m payout for Penrith premiership believed to be largest in Australian history

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News Corp-backed Betr attracted controversy last year when it offered 100-1 odds on the 2023 NRL and AFL grand final winners, as well as other sports

The News Corp-backed betting agency Betr is in the process of paying out $40m in bets after Penrith’s grand final win on Sunday, which the company believes is an Australian record.

Betr attracted significant controversy earlier this year over its widely advertised launch campaign offering 100-1 odds on the Melbourne Cup, something that prompted regulatory intervention and a record $210,000 fine.

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In Australia, Gambling Help Online is available on 1800 858 858. The National Debt Helpline is at 1800 007 007. In the UK, support for problem gambling can be found through GamCare on 0808 8020 133. In the US, the National Council on Problem Gambling is on 800-522-4700

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International students in crisis not seeking mental health support, Victorian inquest finds

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Coroner examining five suicide deaths says tertiary sector faces difficult challenge in encouraging students to get help

International students in crisis are not accessing mental health support services they need, a Victorian coronial inquest into suicide deaths has found.

The inquest examined the deaths of five international students who took their own lives in 2020. The students were born in different nations, attended four institutions in the state and had various living circumstances.

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