Category Archives: Australia news

Unesco removes ‘hurtful’ document claiming Tasmanian Aboriginal people ‘extinct’

Posted on by

Inaccurate statement by the International Union for Conservation of Nature made as part of the 1982 process for world heritage status for Tasmanian wilderness area

A UN agency was forced to remove a “hurtful” document that for more than 40 years publicly claimed Tasmanian Aboriginal people were extinct.

The inaccurate claim, stating that “Tasmanians are now an extinct race of humans”, was made as part of the nomination process for the declaration of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area and its addition to the world heritage list in 1982.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

CEO grilled at fiery inquiry – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed.

Stephen Jones on stage-three tax cuts: ‘very, very few’ young Australians he knows will benefit

The assistant treasurer, Stephen Jones, was asked about the stage-three tax cuts while appearing on ABC RN this morning, and reaffirmed the governments commitment to them:

[The] prime minister made a promise before the election and there’s been no change to our policy.

We’ve made it quite clear that our priorities [are] multinational tax avoidance [and] ensuring we have greater compliance with the existing tax laws before we were to go to Australians and say we think you need to pay more.

Very, very few.

[The] stage-three tax cuts benefit everybody over $45,000 a year and before you jump into it, yes, I know, the greatest benefit flows to the people on the highest incomes, no doubt about that.

Continue reading...

Australia tells big development banks to ‘lift their game’ in the Pacific

Posted on by

There are concerns the World Bank and ADB are giving contracts to low-price bidders who then demand more when budgets blow out

The Australian government has told big development banks to “lift their game” in the Pacific amid concerns they are approving poor-quality, cut-price projects only for the budgets to blow out.

Largely funded by governments, development banks provide grants and low-cost loans to developing countries to help them build infrastructure and other projects.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Female scientists found to be almost entirely absent from Australian high school textbooks

Posted on by

Researchers say ‘alarming’ lack of representation could be contributing to gender gap in the field of Stem

Female scientists are almost entirely omitted from Australian textbooks, a new study has found, with researchers warning the “alarming” lack of representation could be contributing to the gender gap in the field of Stem.

The study, released by the Australian National University (ANU) and Curtin University on Monday, analysed the curriculum of the four year 11 and year 12 Stem subjects taught in Australian schools – biology, chemistry, physics and environmental science.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Detained Australian writer fears he may die of kidney condition in China jail

Posted on by

Yang Hengjun has told supporters he is in pain from a cyst on his kidney that remains untreated

Detained Australian writer Yang Hengjun fears he could die in a Chinese prison from a worsening medical condition he says is not being properly treated.

He has told supporters he is in pain from a large cyst on his kidney. The Australian government is being urged to intervene and secure, through diplomatic means, his release to Australia on medical parole.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Labor dumps attempt to modernise business records after $2bn budget blowout

Posted on by

Assistant treasurer Stephen Jones blames ‘failure of planning and oversight’ by previous Coalition government

The Albanese government is abandoning an attempt to modernise the way businesses record public information such as the identity of company directors, after a review found the Coalition-era project would run more than $2bn over budget.

The assistant treasurer, Stephen Jones, is now considering the review’s call to instead spend a further $515m returning registry functions to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission and investing to improve data integrity in other ways.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Woolworths’ free naturopath consultations raise concerns among peak health bodies

Posted on by

Exclusive: experts fear the cost-of-living crisis is forcing people to forgo evidence-based healthcare

Hundreds of free appointments with naturopaths have been booked through Woolworths subsidiary HealthyLife, as peak health bodies warn people are forgoing more expensive, evidence-based care due to the cost-of-living crisis.

In March HealthyLife launched telehealth consultations with general practitioners, dieticians, nutritionists and in-house naturopaths, alongside home delivery of pharmaceutical products through its partner SuperPharmacy.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Firefighters fear being ‘overwhelmed’ by rise in battery fires after fatal Sydney blaze

Posted on by

A NSW fire and rescue superintendent said the death of a man in a Sydney fire on Saturday night was part of a ‘marked increase’ in such incidents

Firefighters say they fear being ‘“overwhelmed” by increasing numbers of battery fires, after the death of a Sydney man in a house fire on Saturday night was linked to toxic smoke from burning lithium batteries.

The 54-year-old man was eating downstairs in his Punchbowl unit in Sydney’s west with two women when the fire broke out. He tried to extinguish the blaze with a fire extinguisher, but when firefighters arrived he was found unconscious on his bathroom floor with soot on his mouth, having inhaled toxic smoke.

Continue reading...

Bridget Archer says it is ‘irresponsible’ to cast doubt on integrity of voice referendum after questions over crosses

Posted on by

Shadow minister Jane Hume calls it an ‘inconsistency’ that a cross on a ballot paper will not count as ‘no’

The Liberal MP Bridget Archer has warned it is “irresponsible to cast doubt on the integrity” of the Australian Electoral Commission, after senior members of the Coalition and some no campaign groups raised concerns over whether crosses count as valid votes in the voice referendum.

On Sunday, the shadow minister for finance and special minister of state, Jane Hume, called it an “inconsistency” that a tick would count as yes but a cross would not count as a no.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Rumours of a Queensland coup are premature – but Palaszczuk’s popularity is waning

Posted on by

The deputy premier, Steven Miles, called speculation about a challenge ‘rumours and gossip’

Annastacia Palaszczuk has never faced a serious threat to her leadership.

In 11 years as Labor leader – the past eight as premier – there have been no attempted coups or plots, or Canberra-style white-anting by ambitious rivals. Most senior ministers are part of the furniture. Backbenchers rarely vent their concerns, even privately.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Three US marines killed in aircraft crash in Australia during training exercise

Posted on by

The Osprey aircraft crashed in the Northern Territory’s Tiwi Islands on Sunday morning

Three United States marines have been killed and at least five more injured after a defence aircraft crashed over the Tiwi Islands off the Northern Territory coast during a training drill.

The US Marine Corp said the MV-22B Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft was carrying 23 American personnel when it crashed during a routine training exercise about 9.30am local time on Sunday on the remote Melville Island, 80km north of Darwin. It was reportedly on its way to the Tiwi Islands when the crash occurred.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Michael Long begins long walk for Indigenous voice to parliament: ‘The hatred’s got to stop’

Posted on by

AFL legend wants Australians to join recreation of his Long Walk of 2004 which ended with a meeting with then PM John Howard

The AFL legend Michael Long has declared it high time for Australia to embrace Aboriginal people as he embarked on a walk to Canberra in support of an Indigenous voice to parliament.

Recreating his Long Walk in 2004, the son of two stolen generations members will trek hundreds of kilometres in the lead-up to the referendum.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Pilbara native title case: the fight to decide if Fortescue pays compensation to Indigenous owners

Posted on by

The Yindjibarndi people say WA and Andrew Forrest’s mining company must pay for the destruction of sacred country and community

In the heart of the Pilbara, two cultures and two systems of law have collided in the red dirt – and in a bitterly contested native title case being fought in the federal court.

To the Fortescue Metals Group – the mining company founded and chaired by billionaire Andrew Forrest – and the state of Western Australia, that red dirt means one thing: iron ore.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

PwC urged Labor to delay multinational tax transparency laws, Senate submissions reveal

Posted on by

The firm joined the other big four consultancies in calling for the world-leading regime to be postponed or watered down

PwC, the other big four consultancies and the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia were among the entities that urged the federal government to delay and water down proposed multinational tax transparency laws.

Australia’s proposed country-by-country reporting would make it a world leader in tax transparency, compelling multinationals to publish detailed location-specific information about their revenue, expenses and effective tax rate to deter profit shifting and tax avoidance.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

NSW surfer bitten by great white shark faces further surgery and long rehabilitation, family says

Posted on by

Father-of-two Toby Begg, 44, is in a serious but stable condition in hospital following serious injuries ‘from his hip to calf and lower legs’

A surfer bitten by a great white shark at a Port Macquarie beach on Friday faces “many surgeries and has years of rehabilitation ahead of him”, his family has said as he recovers in hospital.

Father-of-two Toby Begg, 44, was attacked by the great white, estimated at 4m long, as he surfed at Lighthouse beach on Friday morning.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Driver charged after horror crash that killed two children, aged nine and 10, in Sydney’s south

Posted on by

Police called to Monterey at 9.50pm Friday night following reports a car had crashed into a tree

The driver of a car that crashed in Monterey on Friday night, killing two children, has been charged over the horror smash, and will face a bedside court hearing on Sunday.

The 33-year-old driver, from Beverly Hills, has been charged with two counts of dangerous driving occasioning death, and one count of causing bodily harm by misconduct.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley spared preselection challenge after opponent blocked from running

Posted on by

Opposition leader Peter Dutton says he supports Ley along with other Liberals facing challenge, including Alex Hawke, Paul Fletcher and Melissa McIntosh

Deputy Liberal leader, Sussan Ley, has been spared an embarrassing preselection contest after her would-be opponent was blocked from running against her in Farrer.

Guardian Australia understands that former state executive member, Jean Haynes, has had her candidacy blocked by the NSW Liberals’ nomination review committee, effectively preventing her from contesting the preselection ballot.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Fraudulent course providers face closure in Labor’s international education crackdown

Posted on by

Under reforms to sector, foreign students will also need more savings to study in Australia to mitigate cost-of-living increase

Dodgy course providers could be shut down by the federal government as part of a sweeping crackdown on rorts in the embattled international education sector.

A package of reforms, to come into effect immediately, aims to reverse an uptick in exploitation and fraud that risks causing reputational damage for Australia’s higher education system.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Children unlawfully detained in Queensland’s police watch houses blocked from suing

Posted on by

Law changes retroactively exempt government from litigation as Labor refuses to release legal advice used to justify rapid changes to Youth Justice Act

The Queensland government has refused to release key legal advice it used to justify urgent changes to the Youth Justice Act, amid criticism over its decision to retroactively prevent children from suing if they were detained unlawfully.

Defending the government’s hurried changes to the law, the deputy premier, Steven Miles, said the solicitor general had advised it could not delay amending the act – even for a few weeks – to accommodate scrutiny by a parliamentary committee.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Ben Roberts-Smith: judge won’t make documents decision in war crimes probe due to bias perception

Posted on by

Justice Anthony Besanko recuses himself from court decision relating to war crimes investigation into Australian veteran

The judge who dismissed Ben Roberts-Smith’s defamation action will not decide whether criminal investigators probing war crimes allegations against the decorated veteran should have access to sensitive information heard in closed court during the defamation trial.

Justice Anthony Besanko has recused himself from deciding whether investigators from the government’s Office of the Special Investigator (OSI) should be allowed to access information tendered in closed court, over concerns of a potential perception of bias.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...