Category Archives: Australia news

Cost-of-living crisis: Albanese government launches taskforce to review competition in bid to ease pressures

Posted on by

Panel’s appointment comes as Woolworths reports rise in net annual earnings to $1.6bn, a day after Coles posts $1.1bn profit

The Albanese government will appoint a taskforce to provide a rolling competition review in a bid to lower cost-of-living pressures by creating a more productive and dynamic economy.

The taskforce, set up in Treasury, will include an expert panel including Danielle Wood, chief executive of the Grattan Institute, and Rod Sims, former chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). It will engage in “targeted public consultation” and provide continuous advice over the coming two years.

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

Continue reading...

Reality show The Traitors inspired by murderous 17th-century mutiny

Posted on by

Maritime horror, after Dutch sailing ship Batavia wrecked off western Australia, set TV show in motion

The hit TV reality show The Traitors was originally going to involve a recreation of a real-life murderous mutiny onboard a 17th-century Dutch ship, with programme contestants pushed into the sea when voted out.

Jasper Hoogendoorn, who oversaw the programme’s development, said the show was inspired by the voyage of the Batavia, a Dutch ship which was shipwrecked off Australia in 1629.

Continue reading...

Activists hit with restraining orders lawyer claims will stop them speaking out about Woodside

Posted on by

Fossil fuel company denies orders granted after incident at CEO’s home are intended to prevent campaigners from speaking out

Four activists have been hit with violence restraining orders that their lawyer says prevents them from making any public reference to Woodside’s CEO and effectively stops them from speaking out about the company.

The interim court orders were issued to activists charged in relation to an incident at the home of Meg O’Neill and “were sought to protect Ms O’Neill’s family’s safety”, a Woodside spokesperson confirmed.

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

Continue reading...

Vaping found to be the biggest risk factor for teenage tobacco smoking

Posted on by

Data from Australian Secondary School Students Alcohol and Drug Survey predates ‘huge’ increase in vaping

E-cigarette use is the single strongest risk factor for adolescents taking up tobacco smoking, out-ranking social norms, poor mental health and misperceptions about smoking harms, research published on Wednesday has found.

The findings come from 4,266 Victorian students aged 12 to 17 who anonymously took part in the 2017 Australian Secondary School Students Alcohol and Drug Survey (Assad), with researchers then focusing on 3,410 students who reported never having smoked even part of a cigarette.

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

Continue reading...

Cases of flesh-eating invasive strep A bacteria surge in Australian children

Posted on by

Medical journal reports alarming rise in cases over two years with some patients experiencing toxic shock, amputation and flesh-eating, necrotising disease

It took just two days for one-year-old Jordan Sutherland to go from experiencing clinginess and a slight temperature to being in intensive care after surgery to remove flesh-eating bacteria from his neck, which had “swollen from ear to ear”, his mother recalls.

Jordan would not leave the Royal Children’s hospital in Melbourne for almost five weeks, after an infection with the common strep A bacteria developed into a disease known as “invasive strep A”.

Continue reading...

Investment in new Australian wind and solar farms stalls amid ‘raft of barriers’, report finds

Posted on by

First half of year had slowest pace of final approvals in Clean Energy Council’s six years of tracking, but backing for power storage was more promising

Investment in new wind and solar farms has all but stalled with developers facing a “raft of barriers” despite strong political support, the Clean Energy Council said in its latest quarterly report.

The first half of 2023 produced the slowest pace of final investment approvals in the council’s six years of data tracking. Just four generation projects accounting for 348 megawatts – or roughly the size of a single coal-fired power station unit – secured financial commitment in the June quarter.

Continue reading...

Full of beans: scientists use processed coffee grounds to make stronger concrete

Posted on by

Australian engineers say they can make concrete nearly 30% stronger by incorporating processed coffee grounds into the material

In an idea that fittingly arose over a cup of coffee, researchers have devised a technique to recycle used coffee grounds to make stronger concrete.

Engineers at RMIT University say they have developed a way to make concrete nearly 30% stronger by incorporating processed coffee grounds into the material.

Continue reading...

Australia news live: Brisbane to undergo ‘mock earthquake’; Coles profit up to $1.1bn

Posted on by

Supermarket operator posts 4.8% rise in full year cash profit, lifted by strong rise in groceries revenue. Follow today’s live news updates

AEC monitoring disinformation about electoral processes

Rogers said the AEC has seen an increase in mis- and disinformation over the last few years, particularly around the electoral process itself.

It’s all about the electoral process. We’re seeing an increase in [disinformation]. We’re seeing an increase in threats to staff. Which is very disappointing. And we’re monitoring that very closely.

At the last federal election, we had similar issues. We’re seeing behaviours we haven’t seen previously. The people who work elections are community members … Treat people with respect and civility.

We’re ready for it whenever it may be. That’s what we do in any case. We’re used to these events when we don’t know the date until a few weeks out. We’ve got all systems go.

We would ultimately like the rate to be exactly the same as the general roll, but it’s very close.

Continue reading...

Essential poll: three in four Australians say rents should be capped to inflation or frozen until economy improves

Posted on by

Housing tussle between Labor and the Greens does not impact PM’s popularity with 37% feeling positive about Anthony Albanese

Three in four Australians believe rents should either be capped to inflation or frozen until economic conditions improve, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll.

Presented with choices about rental policies, 44% of the 1,151 respondents supported an annual increase to rents by no more than inflation, while 34% believed rents should be frozen until the economy turns around.

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

Continue reading...

‘Tone deaf’: MPs call for University of Sydney to return gambling research money

Posted on by

Independents Zoe Daniel, Andrew Wilkie and others say university’s Centre of Excellence in Gambling Research’s funding from casino and gambling companies should be scrapped

The University of Sydney’s reputation has been tarnished by its partnership with Australia’s biggest sports gambling companies, according to multiple federal MPs who want hundreds of thousands of dollars to be immediately returned to bookmakers.

The university has announced its Centre of Excellence in Gambling Research will be funded by a $600,000 investment from the International Centre for Responsible Gaming, which the university has described as “a global leader in research and education on gambling disorder and responsible gambling”.

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

Continue reading...

Indonesian rescuers end search for crew member missing from surf boat

Posted on by

Four Australians and two crew were saved after their boat capsized off Sumatra, but hopes of finding the remaining person on board appear over

Rescuers have ended their search for a missing Indonesian crew member one week after a boat with seven on board hit bad weather off Sumatra island, officials said on Monday.

The search was launched last week after authorities received a report that one of two boats headed for Pinang island from Nias island had failed to reach its destination.

Continue reading...

NSW police watchdog to oversee investigation into arrest of Indigenous man with disability in Taree

Posted on by

Teenager remains in custody and faces seven charges, including hindering or resisting a police officer

The New South Wales police watchdog will oversee an investigation into the violent arrest in Taree last week of a handcuffed Aboriginal teenager with a disability.

The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC), an independent watchdog that has oversight of NSW police, has confirmed it is involved in the force’s internal inquiry and that police have received a serious misconduct complaint about the incident.

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

Continue reading...

Western Australian MP admitted alleged child sexual abuse to wife before charges laid, court told

Posted on by

James Hayward, 53, has pleaded not guilty to the abuse of an eight-year-old girl

A Western Australian MP on trial for child sexual abuse admitted the crimes in an email to his wife before he was charged, a court has been told.

James Dorrin Hayward has pleaded not guilty to four offences relating to the alleged abuse of an eight-year-old girl.

Continue reading...

Senator responds to report – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed.

Conroy says comments at Labor conference about strategic balance in Pacific

Conroy is asked about comments he made at the Labor conference, saying it is against Australia’s interest to have one power dominate our region, especially one that breaches international laws.

And is it your view that China is trying to do that, dominate our region?

I’m not going to be going into what other countries are doing but it’s clear that we’re seeing great strategic competition in our region, and it’s appropriate that we respond through increased diplomatic engagement and an increasing deterrence in the Australian Defence Force.

They all play complementary roles in promoting peace and stability in our [region].

So this is about peace and stability in our region by deterring conflict and I know you will respond that saying, well, aren’t we just engaging in military buildup, but in the end, the only way we pursue peace and stability is by presenting strength. This is what this is about.

Continue reading...

Albanese accuses Gary Johns of ‘failure’ to show respect to Indigenous Australians after offensive comments

Posted on by

PM says top no campaigner’s role a ‘concern’ while Liberal MP Matt Kean says Warren Mundine and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price ‘will have to clean up this mess’

Anthony Albanese has criticised the no campaign’s decision to give Gary Johns a prominent position in its campaign while the Liberal MP Matt Kean has accused the top voice critic of treating colleagues Warren Mundine and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price with “complete disrespect” and “cowardice”.

In a speech at the CPAC conservative conference, Johns, the president of the anti-voice group Recognise a Better Way – which had been founded by Mundine – claimed some people in Indigenous communities lived in a “stupor” and recommended they “learn English”.

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

Continue reading...

Mother’s pleas for antibiotics for toddler who died of sepsis were ignored, Victorian court told

Posted on by

Miranda Jowett, who sought treatment for daughter Dio Kemp six times, tells coronial inquest into her death she was made to feel like an ‘overly concerned parent’

A Melbourne mother who sought medical treatment for her toddler six times before the child died of septic shock has told an inquest that her pleas for antibiotics and further tests were ignored and that she was made to feel like an “overly concerned parent”.

The Victorian coroners court on Monday began an inquest into the death of Dio Kemp, three, who died after she was taken to Monash Medical Centre four times and to her GP twice over eight days in late 2019.

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

Continue reading...

Australia’s population to grow at slowest rate since federation, intergenerational report forecasts

Posted on by

Australians are expected to live longer and remain healthier to an older age, while having fewer children over the next 40 years

Australia’s population is forecast to grow at its slowest rate since federation, the latest intergenerational report from Treasury has found.

The report, which forecasts what the next four decades will look like, has found population growth is projected to slow to an annual average of 1.1% over the next 40 years, compared to 1.4% over the past four decades.

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

Continue reading...

Qantas accused of misleading conduct over advertising flight own sales staff could not find

Posted on by

Airline denies misleading conduct after customer was unable to find flight to London for advertised $2,455 return price

Qantas has denied it is engaging in misleading conduct despite promoting a special return fare to London on its website that was scarcely available and which its own sales staff were unable to book for customers.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is considering a complaint which alleges Qantas breached Australia’s consumer law by advertising return economy airfares from Sydney to London’s Heathrow airport as one of its “top offers”, with prices from $2,455 per adult.

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

Continue reading...

Victorian recycling company found to have systematically underpaid refugees and asylum seekers

Posted on by

Company formerly known as Polytrade fined more than $375,000 in the federal court

Refugees and asylum seekers employed to sort rubbish were systematically exploited and underpaid by one of the biggest recycling organisations in Victoria.

A recycling company formerly known as Polytrade, a linked subsidiary, and its owners, were fined more than $375,000 in the federal court this month, over what a judge described as “obnoxious conduct” and a “cavalier disregard” for the law, grossly underpaying migrant workers who spoke little English and were vulnerable to exploitation.

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

Continue reading...

Australia to buy Tomahawk cruise missiles in $1.7bn spend on long-range defence capability

Posted on by

Anti-radiation and anti-tank missiles among purchase which will be locked in just days after raucous internal debate at Labor conference over Aukus pact

The Albanese government has announced a $1.7bn spend on hi-tech missiles which the defence minister, Richard Marles, said are needed “to hold our adversaries further from our shores and keep Australians safe”.

Australia will become just the third nation after the US and the UK to have access to Tomahawk cruise missiles, with $1.3bn being spent on 200 of the long range missiles to boost the capability of the three Hobart-class air warfare destroyers.

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

Continue reading...