Category Archives: Australia news

PwC-backed mental health platform was scrapped after $33m government trial launched without open tender

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Experts call for transparency over Project Synergy grant awarded to Innowell, whose platform is no longer used by the federal health department

A PwC-backed startup received tens of millions of taxpayer dollars through a closed, non-competitive grant to develop a digital mental health platform, which was almost scrapped due to health workers finding it an administrative burden.

Policy experts and transparency watchdogs have raised alarm about the grant and called on the federal government to explain why the money was not allocated through an open and competitive process to ensure value for money.

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Labor faces internal fight over native forest logging despite emissions pledge

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Labor’s Environment Action Network says draft national platform ‘very, very weak’ on opposing native forest logging and land clearing

Labor has significantly beefed up its commitment to reduce emissions in the gas industry but still faces a fight at its national conference over “weak” policies on native forest logging.

Labor’s Environment Action Network (Lean) has now signed up 294 branches for its push to end native forest logging and broad scale land clearing, but both policies were omitted from the draft national platform distributed to delegates on Monday.

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Daniel Andrews’ $7bn Commonwealth Games price tag doesn’t add up, expert says

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Grattan Institute analyst says ‘the supply and cost inflation can’t fully account for this massive increase in costs’

An infrastructure expert says inflation and labour can’t account for the $7bn cost estimate used by the Victorian government to call off the state’s Commonwealth Games, as the Greens call for an integrity crackdown on the use of consultants.

The state opposition has also referred the government’s scrapping of the event to the auditor general, saying it needed to be determined why the costs of hosting the Games escalated and how much Victorian taxpayers would pay for their cancellation.

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‘A bit disturbing’: investigations launched after freight train collides with excavator in Brisbane

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Aurizon confirms driver was not injured in crash at Fairfield station on Saturday night

Rail regulators are investigating whether laws were breached during a “serious” train crash in Brisbane, after a freight train ploughed into an excavator at Fairfield station on the weekend.

The rail line was completely closed for 12 hours to accommodate works on Cross River Rail on Saturday.

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Eastern Australia hit with rising electricity prices despite record warm weather

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Wind output reached record levels in June in the national electricity market, the Australian Energy Regulator said

Eastern Australia’s wholesale power prices increased in the June quarter, although they remained well below the level reached during the energy crisis a year earlier, the Australian Energy Regulator has said.

New South Wales posted the highest spot pricing with an average of $148 a megawatt-hour, up from just over $100/MWh during the first three months of the year. During last winter’s energy squeeze, prices averaged about $320/MWh.

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News live: Burney rules out voice debate with Price, saying ‘this is about Australians not politics’

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Minister for education Jason Clare said increasing access to a Commonwealth-supported place at university will cost $34m over the next four years – “That’s a pretty good investment”.

He said on ABC RN this morning:

If you’re a young Indigenous person today, you’re more likely to go to jail than you are to university.

The cost of having somebody in jail every year is about $120,000. The cost of a university place is $11,000.

Tuna sushi.

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Big W removes sex education book from shelves after staff members abused

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Publisher of Welcome to Sex by Dr Melissa Kang and Yumi Stynes defends book after conservative campaigners claim it is ‘teaching sex to children’

The publisher of a sex education and consent book aimed at adolescents has defended the title after it was taken off the shelves of Big W stores amid backlash from conservative campaigners.

Welcome to Sex, co-authored by the former Dolly Doctor and adolescent health expert Dr Melissa Kang and feminist writer Yumi Stynes, is the fourth book in a series on topics such as consent and menstruation.

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Bluey: The Videogame in the works, according to evidence dug up by online sleuths

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Listing on Australian government’s classification board website describes Bluey video game as a treasure hunt-style game

Is the world’s favourite cartoon dog about to get her own video game?

Online sleuths have discovered a Bluey game may be in the works, after a Twitter bot devoted to Australian video game classification decisions tweeted a new rating: Bluey: the Videogame received a G for General.

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Foreign spies using sensitive court proceedings to collect information, Australia’s intelligence community says

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Director general of national intelligence says NSI Act needs to be modernised but defended tough secrecy laws amid ‘unprecedented’ levels of espionage

Australia’s intelligence community believes foreign spies are using sensitive court proceedings as an “intelligence collection tool” while defending the need for tough secrecy laws.

Australia’s national security law watchdog, the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor, on Wednesday began public hearings examining the use of laws designed to protect sensitive information during court proceedings.

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Public servants complained about PwC ‘spamming’ them with unsolicited work offers, emails reveal

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Correspondence released by agriculture department shows level of discomfort among officials about embattled firm’s efforts to land new contracts

Senior public servants have complained about PwC “spamming” them with unsolicited bids for work, internal emails reveal, with department managers told to be vigilant about the potential misuse of government information and the importance of protecting taxpayer money.

The emails, released by the department of agriculture, provide more detail about a practice criticised by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) and demonstrate the level of discomfort within the public service about PwC’s methods of trying to land new contracts.

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Albanese says it’s ‘dumb’ to expect change without Indigenous voice in talkback radio clash

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PM tells 2GB radio’s Ben Fordham that media have a responsibility not to ‘raise red herrings’ after being repeatedly questioned over impacts of voice proposal

Anthony Albanese has branded it “dumb” to suggest outcomes for Indigenous Australians can improve without a voice to parliament in the constitution, muscling up to conservative critics of the referendum proposal.

The prime minister made the comment in a testy interview on 2GB Radio, warning that media have a responsibility not to “raise red herrings” and urging Australians to read about the actual question for themselves.

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‘My son is innocent’: mother of imprisoned Australian businessman denies he’s a Chinese spy

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Lawyers say Alexander Csergo brought home list of requests from aspiring Chinese handlers to ensure he would be believed by Australian authorities

An Australian businessman facing a foreign interference charge brought home a “shopping list” given to him by two Chinese intelligence officials as evidence of China’s overt and ultimately unsuccessful efforts to cultivate him as a source, his lawyers say.

The list, which Alexander Csergo slipped between the pages of a magazine to spirit out of China, requests information about whether Australia’s new Aukus alliance is “preparing for [a] Taiwan war”, about competition between the US and China in the Pacific, and about the Five Eyes intelligence alliance.

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Iron ore giant Fortescue Metals targeted by Russian ransomware group

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Australian mining company confirms hack occurred on 28 May but data disclosed ‘was not confidential in nature’

Australian iron ore miner Fortescue Metals has been the target of a cyber-attack, with Russian ransomware group C10pm claiming credit, including for the theft of data.

Fortescue confirmed the hack, describing it as “a low-impact cyber incident” that occurred on 28 May.

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NSW police lose court bid to exclude Scott Johnson killing from gay hate inquiry

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Force had argued Johnson’s death was outside terms of reference because case was solved with man sentenced for manslaughter earlier this year

A bid by New South Wales police to exclude a high-profile killing from a gay hate inquiry has been rejected.

The death of US mathematician Scott Johnson is one of dozens of cases under the spotlight at a special commission of inquiry into suspected gay hate crimes in Sydney between 1970 and 2010.

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Alex Hawke and Sussan Ley among Liberal MPs facing preselection challenges

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Nominations for first batch of federal NSW seats reveal Scott Morrison allies Hawke and Melissa McIntosh face contest as does Paul Fletcher

Two of Scott Morrison’s allies are facing preselection challenges in their seats, as are two other senior federal Liberals – the deputy leader, Sussan Ley, and the manager of opposition business, Paul Fletcher.

Nominations for the first batch of New South Wales seats closed on Monday. Morrison backers Alex Hawke, the former immigration minister, and Melissa McIntosh, the member for Lindsay, are being challenged.

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Senator says treaty ‘the only way forward’ – as it happened

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This blog is now closed.

Julian Leeser, the former shadow minister for Indigenous affairs and yes campaigner, has reassured ABC Radio that the voice to parliament is a “safe change” with cross-party support as the referendum draws nearer.

“Right from the beginning of my participation in this debate, I’ve called for a higher standard of debate and I’ve said that we should focus on issues of people,” he said.

I was proud to put my signature to the yes case. The yes case provides a positive reason for voting … It speaks to the practical results from change. It explains why recognition makes a difference to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. But it’s a safe change. It’s a change supported by people from all sides of politics.

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Commonwealth Games: Victoria’s regions ‘shocked and disappointed’ after event cancelled

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The 2026 Games, which Daniel Andrews announced would be cancelled, was set to be held across Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat, Gippsland and Shepparton

Regional areas have been left “shocked and disappointed” after the Victorian government decided to cancel the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

On Tuesday the government announced it would cancel the 12-day event after the cost blew out from $2.6bn and could have reached $7bn, with the premier, Daniel Andrews, saying he did not want to take money from other areas of the budget to pay for the Games.

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Is Labor cooking up a ‘ministry of truth?’ No, it’s just an opposition scare campaign – with a side of hypocrisy | Paul Karp

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The Coalition now opposes the type of social media regulation it supported in government – and its about-face is aimed at fuelling the campaigning journalism of Labor’s critics

Labor has a patchy record when it comes to free speech online.

In 2008, it attempted to filter the internet – an idea that limped on despite enormous practical difficulties until it was ditched in November 2012.

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Aboriginal owners and energy investors team up in plan for $3bn green hydrogen plant in WA

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‘Radically different’ partnership aims to construct more than a million solar panels to power electrolysers

A unique partnership between three traditional owner groups and a major clean energy investor is promising to establish a $3bn green hydrogen project in the far north of Western Australia.

In what could be one of Australia’s biggest clean energy projects, more than a million solar panels will power electrolysers to produce 50,000 tonnes of green hydrogen a year.

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Leaking sewage and no water: Victorian renters’ compensation claims stall in tribunal backlog

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One family is among 13,000 waiting for their application to be processed after nightmare tree change left them with uninhabitable housing

When David*, his partner and young daughter moved to a regional Victorian property close to two-and-a-half years ago, they just wanted a tree-change. What they got was a nightmare rental experience, a hole in their bank account worth more than $20,000, and a prolonged dispute that is still without resolution.

David, who asked that his surname not be used, is just one of nearly 13,000 people waiting for his bond and compensation application to come before the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (Vcat), where backlogs still persist and the median wait time is more than nine months.

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