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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...Police say the man reportedly tried to fight the shark for 30 seconds at Port Macquarie’s Lighthouse beach
A surfer at a New South Wales beach fought off a great white shark and swam back to shore while suffering from serious leg injuries, police say.
The 44-year-old man was in hospital in a critical condition on Friday night after he was bitten by a shark at Lighthouse beach at 10am in Port Macquarie in northern NSW.
Continue reading...Environment Protection Authority believes a pollution incident caused the event and are working with city council to identify the toxicant
The deaths of about 1,000 giant spiny crayfish are being investigated by the Environment Protection Authority in a likely pollution incident in the Blue Mountains this week.
Hundreds of dead crayfish were found in a tributary of Hazelbrook Creek, near Horseshoe Falls, on Wednesday by a tour guide.
Continue reading...From the latest breaking news to the events of the day, catch up on what you need to know in our summary of the Australian news of the day
The Australian Electoral Commission has come out swinging against critics who say counting ticks as a yes response in the upcoming voice referendum will undermine its fairness and impartiality.
Australia’s $528m icebreaking research vessel the RSV Nuyina is significantly wider than initially designed and lacks the turning ability to safely pass underneath Hobart’s Tasman Bridge and refuel on the other side.
A man is in a critical condition after a shark attack on Friday morning in Port Macquarie.
The Catholic church’s bid to block a legal ruling that would allow the father of a choirboy allegedly sexually abused by Cardinal George Pell to sue for damages has been knocked down at the first hurdle.
A dramatic overhaul of the nation’s family laws, which puts more focus on a child’s best interests than on shared parental responsibility, is set to go ahead.
The Queensland government’s steadfast defence of new laws allowing children to be held in police watch houses continues to draw harsh criticism from the opposition, the Greens and Katter’s Australian party.
Continue reading...Possible ‘robodebt’ scenario left Labor to either move the children or suspend the Human Rights Act – and it chose the latter
Queensland Labor MPs found out on Monday that they were expected to vote to suspend the state’s Human Rights Act, for a second time, to allow for the indefinite detention of children in adult police watch houses.
No one else seemed to have any warning. On Wednesday afternoon – on a particularly dreary day in state parliament – the police minister, Mark Ryan, tacked the law change on to an unrelated child safety bill, allowing it to pass through parliament the following day with no committee scrutiny.
Continue reading...Lawyers say strategy a ‘matter of continuing concern’ after church succeeds in permanently blocking claim by two Indigenous men
Lawyers for two Indigenous abuse survivors have called for reforms to address the “horrendous” Catholic church strategy of seeking to permanently block cases where alleged paedophile priests have died.
On Wednesday, the church was successful in permanently blocking a claim made by two Indigenous survivors relating to alleged abuse committed by David Joseph Perrett, an Armidale assistant priest and convicted child abuser, whose crimes the church has known about since 1995.
Continue reading...Chris Bowen says the standard is needed to improve access to cleaner, cheaper-to-run cars in Australia
The Albanese government’s promise to introduce a fuel efficiency standard for cars has been “overwhelmingly” supported by a public consultation process, Labor says.
Labor will now complete an impact analysis and release details of its preferred model for a standard “before the end of this year”.
Continue reading...Journalists and civil liberty groups also concerned about proposed bill that creates new offences around accessing violent extremist material
Australia’s peak body for lawyers has joined civil liberty groups, journalists and advocacy groups to sound the alarm on proposed laws to criminalise the accessing of violent extremist material, saying the new powers are unnecessary and may inadvertently interfere with “legitimate matters of political dissent or struggle”.
The federal government is seeking to expand counter-terror powers by introducing new offences for possessing or controlling violent extremist material using a carriage service.
Continue reading...Active community testing required on an intermittent basis to see ‘the whole iceberg, not just the tip’, Prof Catherine Bennett says
Political momentum for the monitoring and surveillance of Covid-19 is “fading”, the Australian virologist who developed a world-first method for rapidly isolating and characterising variants said.
Prof Stuart Turville, with the University of New South Wales Kirby Institute, said while the impact of Covid-19 in Australia is waning, the Sars CoV-2 virus that causes disease is constantly changing and “there is still a lot we don’t know”.
Continue reading...Complaints from Liberals and some crossbench MPs come after watchdog asked to use illegally obtained recordings in ongoing investigation
Special powers handed to the New South Wales corruption watchdog to use illegally obtained recordings have been described as “concerning”, with the opposition and members of the crossbench vowing to try to stop them from proceeding.
The government granted the powers to the Independent Commission Against Corruption on Wednesday to assist it with an ongoing investigation in response to a request from its chief commissioner, John Hatzistergos.
Continue reading...Palaszczuk government overriding state’s Human Rights Act to allow for imprisoning children as young as 10 in adult watch houses
Queensland’s human rights commissioner has accused the government of setting a “dangerous precedent” after it overrode the Human Rights Act to allow children to be detained at adult watch houses and prisons.
In a surprise move, the Palaszczuk government introduced legislation on Wednesday to allow it to imprison children in adult watch houses “even if it would not be compatible with human rights”.
Continue reading...Comments follow Coles and Woolworths announcing annual profits of more than $1bn even after a spike in cost-of-living pressures on households. Follow today’s live news updates
A Gold Coast city councillor has been charged with murder, AAP reports.
A 58-year-old man was found deceased inside an Arundel property by emergency services, after police were called to the residence around 3pm yesterday.
Continue reading...Jamie Strange told the NZ parliament that ‘opening Aldi stores’ would be among the benefits of becoming an Australian state
New Zealand has been urged to reconsider membership of Australia by an outgoing MP, citing cost-saving and economic benefits.
In the final sitting block of the New Zealand parliamentary term this month, legislators have been offering free and frank advice to their colleagues during their valedictory speeches.
Continue reading...CEO Alan Joyce hails ‘remarkable turnaround’ for airline whose results were a stark change from a year earlier, when it fell to a $1.86bn loss
Qantas Airways has soared out of the disrupted pandemic era to post a record $2.47bn full-year underlying profit, backed by strong travel demand and high ticket prices.
The 2022-23 results mark a stark change from a year earlier, when it fell to a $1.86bn loss.
Continue reading...Former corporate watchdog chair James Shipton tells Senate inquiry of attacks on his character, competence and integrity
The former head of Australia’s corporate watchdog has described feeling suicidal after an “abusive advertising campaign” waged against him, accusing the government of failing to support him.
A Senate committee is examining the ability of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Asic) to investigate allegations of corporate misconduct and to undertake enforcement action.
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Continue reading...Guardian Australia analysis shows yes and no campaign advertising is focused more on SA, Tasmania and WA, and less on east coast states
The date of the voice to parliament referendum will be announced in Adelaide due to its strategic importance for both the yes and no campaigns, with the potential for South Australia to be the swing state that decides the outcome of the vote.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, confirmed on Wednesday he would announce voting day for the voice referendum in Adelaide next week on the 30 August. Referendum day is widely expected to be 14 October.
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