Category Archives: Australia news

Taylor Swift: extra tickets added with two more shows in Sydney and Melbourne announced

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After an estimated 4 million people queued online for tickets on Wednesday the US pop star has announced two more Australian concert dates

Taylor Swift has announced two more shows in her Australian tour next February after record-setting ticket sales on Wednesday.

Presale tickets to three Sydney concerts and two in Melbourne sold out in hours after more than 4 million users joined the online queue for under half a million tickets – though some of the numbers may have been fans opening multiple browsers to maximise their chances.

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Victorians rush to buy EVs in last days before state government dumps rebate scheme

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Victoria accused of undermining Australia’s ability to reach 2030 emissions reduction target by ending the rebate

A last-minute rush has seen more than 1,300 Victorians claim rebates on their electric vehicle purchases days before the state government ends the scheme, almost a year earlier than planned.

Government figures show Victorians have been claiming the $3,000 electric car subsidies at a rate of more than 60 a day since the change was announced early in June as part of the state’s 2024 budget.

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Sydney barman’s 1989 death near Bondi beach now believed to be result of gay hate attack, inquiry told

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John Russell was found to have died in an accidental fall, but his case is one of three being re-examined this week in a NSW special inquiry

More than 30 years after police concluded John Russell accidentally fell to his death near Bondi beach, it’s now believed the 31-year-old was a victim of a fatal gay hate attack.

His death is one of three being examined this week by a New South Wales special inquiry into LGBTQ+ hate crimes.

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Bill Shorten has ‘no problem’ with public servants displaying support for Indigenous voice at work

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Comments come after poster on voice was removed from an NDIS commission office over concerns it compromised impartiality

The federal minister for government services, Bill Shorten, has backed public servants displaying their support for the Indigenous voice referendum at work, after a stoush between unions and the NDIS commission over an information flier posted in an office.

Guardian Australia understands a Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) poster featuring referendum information, bearing a “unions for yes” emblem, was removed from a Melbourne NDIS commission office last week, upsetting the union.

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Banks stick to rate hike predictions – as it happened

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Historical societies say banning hate symbols could impact history preservation

Historical societies are also concerned about the proposal to ban Nazi and Islamic State symbols, AAP reports. They worry it will limit education and the preservation of history, and impact memorabilia value.

Modellers need to be able to purchase these items (and) symbols, let alone the basic right of Australian citizens to partake in the legitimate hobby of collecting modelling military items.

The words inscribed on the Islamic flag are sacred words and written by Muslims on a daily basis.

These words are taken directly from our scripture, the Holy Quran, and therefore cannot be subject to a ban.

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Belgian woman missing in Tasmanian wilderness for 11 days an ‘inexperienced hiker’, police say

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Tourist who vanished on walk to Philosopher Falls hasn’t been seen since 17 June and her phone last sent a signal a week ago

A search is continuing for a Belgian tourist missing in a remote area of Tasmania after her white SUV was found at a bushwalking track car park in the state’s north-west.

Celine Cremer, 31, was last seen in Waratah, near Cradle Mountain, on 17 June and was reported missing on Monday afternoon.

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Taylor Swift Sydney and Melbourne presale tickets sold out after record 4m users join Ticketek queue

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Australian fans faced hours-long virtual queues and tried a range of strategies as second tranche of Eras tour presale tickets went on sale

Taylor Swift has broken a national record with more than 4 million users vying to gain access on Wednesday to highly coveted presale tickets to her Sydney and Melbourne shows.

The second round of tickets went live for Swift’s three Sydney shows at 10am, amid unprecedented demand. By 1.43pm, all general Frontier presale tickets for Sydney had sold out, Ticketek Australia said in a tweet.

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Inflation retreated in May to 5.6%, easing fears RBA will again raise interest rates

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Consumer price index fell in May from 6.5% in April showing further signs that the worst of inflation may be over

Australia’s monthly inflation rate retreated in May, easing fears the Reserve Bank will hoist its key interest rate again at next Tuesday’s board meeting.

The headline consumer price index increase last month was 5.6%, the lowest since April 2022, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday. Economists had expected the measure to drop from April’s 6.8% level to 6.1%.

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More Australian homeowners offloading properties at a loss as interest rate rises take a toll, new data shows

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Unit owners particularly vulnerable as profitable national housing sales sank to 92.3% in the three months to March 2023, according to CoreLogic data

Properties sold at a loss increased in the March quarter with almost one in six units offloaded for less than the owner paid, data group CoreLogic said.

As owners eyed the rising cost of servicing their debts, the national proportion of resales with a nominal profit sank to 92.3% in the January-March period, down from 93.2% in the preceding three months and marking the third quarter in a row of declines.

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Could rent controls ease Australia’s housing crisis?

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Advocates say caps or freezes may help reduce pressure on renters but experts warn they are not a simple fix

Renters are bearing the brunt of Australia’s housing crisis, with stories of extortionate rent increases for poor quality homes making headlines all too often.

One solution being flagged by advocates is to control rents, either through freezes or caps on how much landlords can increase the amount.

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PwC walks back report used to claim Australia’s nature repair market could be worth $137bn

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Report cited by environment minister in support of offset bill was criticised for inflated figures and lack of clarity on outcomes

PwC has walked back a report used to claim the nature repair market could be worth $137bn, accepting it measures “indirect spending towards biodiversity” but the amount spent on “threatened species conservation, with clear outcomes, is likely much less”.

The consultancy firm made that submission to a Senate inquiry examining the Albanese government’s nature repair market bill in response to a critique of the report from progressive thinktank the Australia Institute.

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Police launch murder investigation into death of Adelaide toddler

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The 17-month-old boy identified as Ronan died of head injuries from a suspected assault earlier this month

A toddler has died of head injuries from a suspected assault in Adelaide earlier this month, with police launching a murder investigation.

No one has been charged over the death of the 17-month-old boy identified as Ronan.

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Calls for Victorian government to scrap Covid fines as data shows minority groups more likely to be penalised

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Some community leaders say report is evidence of officers targeting people based on their ethnicity, which Victoria police rejects

African, Middle Eastern and Indigenous community leaders are calling for the Andrews government and Victoria police to review Covid fines after a report revealed ethnic minorities and First Nations people were more likely to receive infringements for breaching lockdown rules.

Released on Tuesday, the report revealed people of African and Middle Eastern appearance were four times more likely to receive fines for breaching the state’s lockdown rules in 2020, accounting for share of the population. Victoria police have rejected the allegation by the report’s lead researcher that officers targeted certain racial groups.

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PM launches byelection campaign – as it happened

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Birmingham tells RN he is ‘conflicted’ over voice to parliament

Shadow foreign minister, Simon Birmingham, avoids disclosing what he will vote in the voice referendum, dodging ABC RN’s Patricia Karvelas’ questions.

Do you support the voice?

I’ve been clear that I don’t intend to actively campaign in the referendum.

Why aren’t you taking a position? I mean, you’re making it clear that you want it to be private. If it’s private, that means you are actually sitting on the fence.

Patricia, I think you can hear from my answer there, that I am, in some ways conflicted and think this is a very difficult situation the country has been put in, that we have got a question before a proposed change.

We’re getting a situation where the government is not really directly responding to Ukraine’s requests for the Hawkei vehicles, or the Abrams tanks, nor the D mining equipment they’ve asked for.

[The Albanese government’s] contribution in terms of humanitarian assistance is simply $10m compared with the $65m that had been provided previously. So this is a concern …

Status as the leading non-Nato contributor to Ukraine has slipped away and the type of support being offered now doesn’t seem to be either meeting Ukraine’s requests, providing the modern equipment that they want or need, nor the type of scale that would seem to keep Australia commensurate support of our other parts.

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Media must not confuse voters about Indigenous support for voice, Anthony Albanese says

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PM reels off names of prominent yes campaigners backing ‘a moment of national unity’

Anthony Albanese has suggested the media has a “responsibility” not to confuse voters about support for the voice among First Nations people, arguing that Indigenous critics are outnumbered by supporters.

The prime minister told ABC Coffs Coast radio that Indigenous leaders have been campaigning for the voice “for a long period of time” as their preferred model of constitutional recognition.

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Bondi Junction shooting: police operation under way after reports of shots fired in Sydney’s east

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Police are investigating a possible link between the alleged shooting and a burnt-out car in Zetland

A police operation is under way in Sydney’s eastern suburbs after reports shots were fired on Tuesday morning.

A spokesperson for New South Wales Ambulance confirmed they had multiple vehicles also on the scene.

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Western Sydney airport flight paths reveal suburbs to face vacuum-level noise 100 times a day by 2040

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Modelling along planned flight paths suggest zones will be subject to noise pollution in excess of 70db, or washing machine-level

A 20km stretch of land surrounding the future western Sydney airport will be subjected to noise levels similar to or louder than a washing machine or vacuum cleaner more than 100 times a day by 2040, preliminary flight path analysis shows.

Proposed flight paths released on Tuesday have been designed to avoid areas either currently or projected to be densely populated in coming decades, ahead of the airport beginning operations in late 2026.

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Victoria police accused of racial profiling, as data shows minority groups more likely to receive Covid fines

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African, Middle Eastern and First Nations people up to four times more likely to be fined for Covid-19 breaches

Victoria police officers have been accused of racial profiling, with a report showing they disproportionately targeted people of non-Anglo appearance during the pandemic.

African, Middle Eastern and First Nations people were up to four times more likely to be fined for COVID-19 breaches, when considering their share of the state’s population.

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Prison inmates to be charged 24c a minute for phone calls as NSW scraps cheaper providers

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Decision could make inmates’ contact with family and friends unaffordable, despite studies showing it reduces recidivism

For two years Lisa Maloney has paid about $40 every four months so her son can call her every day from a prison in New South Wales. Now she will be paying about $300 after the state’s correctional services banned affordable phone call options run by third-party services.

“I’ll keep paying but I’m worried about others who won’t be able to afford to contact their loved ones as much,” said Maloney, who lives on a pension in north-west Victoria and can’t afford to visit her son in Lithgow.

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Weather tracker: extreme heat to spread across southern US and Mexico

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Record temperatures will continue to put stress on power grids with blackouts reported in some areas

Extreme and prolonged heat looks set to continue across the southern states of the US and Mexico through this week. This heatwave, which has already brought record temperatures across Texas through the past two weeks, will extend into states such as Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri and Louisiana over the coming days.

At least 50 million people have been placed under extreme heat advisories as temperatures are forecast to soar at least 5-10C above the climatological average, with daily maximum temperatures reaching 40-45C (104-113F). San Angelo airport in Texas has already recorded two consecutive days where the temperature hit 45.6C (114F), which surpasses its highest ever temperature by three degrees.

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