Category Archives: Australia news

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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‘Should be closed after midnight’: experts warn 4am pokies closures in Victoria will do little to stop harm

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Proposed mandatory closing times will still allow 361 venues to remain open after 2am, data suggests

More than 360 Victorian poker machine venues will be allowed to stay open past 2am, with experts warning proposed reforms to force 4am closures will do little to tackle gambling harm.

The Andrews government on Sunday announced widespread proposed gambling reforms, which include requiring all venues to close for at least six hours each day, from 4am until 10am.

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Mystery object: Australian police warn public away from huge cylinder found washed up on WA beach

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Object at Green Head, 250km from Perth in Western Australia, could be from an Indian space rocket, experts said, but police say it is not hazardous

A giant metal cylinder has washed up on a beach in Western Australia, baffling locals and posing a mystery to police.

The huge copper-coloured cylinder was reported to police by local residents on Sunday, having washed up on a beach near Jurien Bay sometime earlier.

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Australian government spending on big four consultancy firms up 1,270% in a decade, analysis shows

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PwC, Deloitte, KPMG and EY face scrutiny as critics warn core functions of democracy should not be outsourced

The amount of taxpayer money given to the big four consultancy firms for management advisory services has increased by more than 1,270% in a decade, according to new analysis from the Centre for Public Integrity.

The analysis comes as the big four face intense scrutiny after disclosing the misuse of government information and multiple conflicts of interest, as well as concerns that taxpayers are being ripped off for work the public service once conducted itself.

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Australia news live: ‘are you really worth seven times the salary of the PM?’ Labor senator asks Deloitte chief

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Former competition watchdog Allan Fels tells parliamentary inquiry federal government must act now to avoid conflicts of interest. Follow the day’s news live

Divers are trying to retrieve hundreds of drones that plunged into Melbourne’s Yarra River over the weekend due to a technical error.

The drones were part of a light show for the Matildas’ game against France on Friday night but fell into the river due to a technical glitch. The retrieval operation began on Sunday and is continuing on Monday.

We want to see all drones taken back out of the river because we know if they are left there they will leach chemicals which can damage the environment.

We want investors to come into the market to take advantage of the great demand for rental accommodation.

But we don’t want to stifle that by putting unnecessary burden (on landlords).

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Man who died during siege near Lithgow was wanted for domestic violence offences

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NSW police say man found dead at Bowenfels home was wanted for serious offences dating back to 2021

A man wanted for domestic violence and weapons offences has died during a siege in which shots were fired at officers near Lithgow, New South Wales police say.

NSW police confirmed the 29-year-old was found dead when they gained entry to the property in Bowenfels at around 9am on Monday.

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K’gari dingo attack: woman who fled into ocean to escape pack airlifted to Queensland hospital

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Victim was reportedly running on Orchid Beach, on what used to be called Fraser Island, when four dingoes inflicted wounds

A woman has been left with injuries to her lower body after being bitten by a pack of dingoes on Queensland’s K’gari.

She was flown to Hervey Bay hospital in a stable condition with wounds to her limbs and torso after suffering “multiple bite wounds” about 9am on Monday, the Queensland Ambulance Service said.

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Raw footage from Bruce Lehrmann’s Channel Seven interview subpoenaed in defamation case

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Lawyers for Network Ten are examining footage from Spotlight interview as they prepare to defend themselves against Lehrmann’s defamation case

Lawyers for Network Ten are examining raw footage of Channel Seven’s recent interview with Bruce Lehrmann as they prepare to defend themselves against his defamation case.

Lehrmann is currently suing Network Ten, Lisa Wilkinson and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in the federal court, alleging they defamed him by wrongly suggesting he raped Brittany Higgins in Parliament House in 2019.

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Andrew Forrest cleared of wrongdoing after Fortescue ordered review into anonymous allegation

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Mining company engaged a private law firm to investigate when directors became aware of an anonymous letter about the executive chairman

Fortescue Metals ordered a review into an anonymous allegation about the behaviour of its executive chair, Andrew Forrest, after a whistleblower tipoff, but cleared him of wrongdoing.

The company said in a statement it engaged an independent law firm that had not previously represented Fortescue or its billionaire founder to investigate the issue.

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Voice backers sign off on ‘simple, hopeful’ message for referendum pamphlet

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Yes and no camps have been writing their competing essays, to be published by AEC on Tuesday

Supporters of an Indigenous voice to parliament say they are “ready to prosecute their simple, hopeful message” and will submit the official yes case to the Australian Electoral Commission on Monday.

The yes and the no camps have been drafting their competing essays, limited to 2,000 words each, with the two documents to be published online by the AEC on Tuesday.

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Indigenous voice no campaign targets religious voters who opposed marriage equality

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The no campaign plans to tap into the ‘unheard majority’ in Sydney, believing there is a bloc of socially conservative religious voters ripe for its messages

The no campaign in the referendum on an Indigenous voice to parliament is targeting migrant communities and parts of Sydney that voted strongly against marriage equality in the 2017 postal vote, Warren Mundine has said.

The campaign believes there is a cohort of religious and socially conservative voters who are open to its messaging on implications of the voice.

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Private school funding increased twice as much as public schools’ in decade after Gonski, data shows

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Exclusive: Government funding since landmark education review released ‘has gone to those least in need’, says national convenor of Save Our Schools

Real government funding to private schools has increased almost twice as much as funding to public schools in the decade since the landmark Gonski review recommended changes designed to fund Australian schools according to need.

From 2012 to 2021, per student funding to independent and Catholic schools rose by 34% and 31% respectively, while funding to public schools increased by just 17%, according to parliamentary library data provided exclusively to Guardian Australia. In Queensland, the growth in government funding to independent schools per student has been nine times greater than to public schools.

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Senior prison official’s court testimony at odds with government spin on Queensland youth detention

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For months, the state government has defended conditions inside Cleveland, in the face of accounts by guards, judges and children documenting problematic practices

In a Townsville courtroom last month, a senior manager at the Cleveland youth detention centre sat in the witness box to answer questions about the prison’s systematic use of solitary confinement.

For months, the state government has defended conditions inside Cleveland, in the face of accounts by guards, teachers, youth workers, court documents, judges and children documenting problematic practices.

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British backpacker stabbed in Australian beach resort – reports

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Fifteen-year-old boy charged with assault by police after incident in Queensland in early hours of Sunday

A British backpacker has been stabbed by a teenager at an Australian beach resort, according to local media reports.

Police were called to Hastings Street in Noosa, on the Queensland coast, in the early hours of Sunday after a 25-year-old man was allegedly attacked by a 15-year-old boy after an argument.

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