Category Archives: Australia news

The Australian economy lost 27,100 full-time jobs in April as unemployment rose to 3.7%

Posted on by

The labour market has remained tight since Covid curbed the influx of migrants and foreign students

Australia’s economy shed 27,100 full-time jobs last month, easing concerns that the Reserve Bank may need to hike its interest rate again to curb inflation.

The country’s unemployment rate in April rose to 3.7%, seasonally adjusted, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday, up from a reported 3.5% for March. Economists had forecast it would remain at March’s 3.5% level, close to a half-century low.

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

Continue reading...

Shane Drumgold on leave from DPP role as inquiry into Bruce Lehrmann case continues

Posted on by

ACT government spokesperson says director of public prosecutions is on leave at his request

The Australian Capital Territory’s director of public prosecutions, Shane Drumgold, is on leave as an inquiry into the handling of a case against the former Liberal staff member Bruce Lehrmann continues.

The ACT government executive has appointed Anthony Williamson, who was the deputy DPP, to act in the role of the territory’s top prosecutor until 13 June.

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

This article was amended on 18 May, 2023. A previous version incorrectly stated Shane Drumgold was stood down. He is taking a period of voluntary leave.

Continue reading...

MP questions referendum wording – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed.

Quad still a priority, White House says

Despite the postponement of Joe Biden’s visit, the White House says that partnerships like the Quad remain a priority.

Revitalizing and reinvigorating our alliances and advancing partnerships like the Quad remains a key priority for the President. This is vital to our ability to advance our foreign policy goals and better promote global stability and prosperity. We look forward to finding other ways to engage with Australia, the Quad, Papua New Guinea and the leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum in the coming year.

I think he will obviously be working very hard for this not to happen. We’ve danced this dance before, as the phrase goes …

I think we’ll get to a good place and I think that’s why he’s wanting to stay there, to focus on just that.

Continue reading...

Snowy 2.0 project making no progress on a number of environmental requirements, report says

Posted on by

Ten of 16 management plans for multibillion-dollar pumped hydro project overdue by up to 31 months, says National Parks Association

Snowy Hydro’s giant pumped hydro project is in breach of its conditions of approval, with many of its management plans overdue and no progress on its threatened fish and biosecurity programs, the National Parks Association has said.

The multibillion-dollar Snowy 2.0 project, already delayed until possibly 2029 with one of its tunnel borers stuck for months, was found to be non-compliant in 15 instances by the third independent audit, completed last year. It also cited 11 additional “opportunities for improvement”.

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

Continue reading...

Melbourne bus crash: truck driver released on bail after several school children injured

Posted on by

Jamie Gleeson, 49, appeared in court after allegedly crashing into bus carrying Exford primary school children in Eynesbury

A truck driver charged after allegedly crashing into a school bus in Melbourne’s west on Tuesday, seriously injuring several children, told police flashes of sunlight may have altered his perception, a court has heard.

Jamie Gleeson, 49, appeared before Melbourne magistrates court via video link on Wednesday afternoon after he was charged with four counts of dangerous driving causing serious injury.

Continue reading...

Meaghan Scanlon promoted to housing minister in surprise Queensland cabinet reshuffle

Posted on by

Yvette D’Ath reportedly set to swap portfolios with attorney general Shannon Fentiman as Palaszczuk government dips in polls ahead of state election

Queensland’s environment minister, Meaghan Scanlon, will be promoted to housing minister in a cabinet reshuffle aimed to revitalise three critical portfolios ahead of next year’s state election.

Senior government sources told Guardian Australia that Scanlon will replace Leeanne Enoch as housing minister, under changes to be announced on Thursday.

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

Continue reading...

Council in Melbourne declares health emergency, claiming truck pollution is linked to high rates of illness

Posted on by

Maribyrnong city council says lack of enforcement of road train curfew has undermined its ability to protect residents

A “health emergency” has been declared by a Melbourne council, which claims residents are suffering above-average rates of hospitalisations for certain conditions partly due to a surge in road trains on its suburban streets.

Maribyrnong city council, which takes in Footscray in the city’s inner western suburbs, announced the declaration on Wednesday, claiming rates of illness in the municipality due to pollution “considerably exceed the Australian average”.

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

Continue reading...

Quad summit cancelled after Joe Biden calls off trip to Australia

Posted on by

Leaders of Japan, India, US and Australia will instead meet on sidelines of the G7 in Hiroshima this weekend

Anthony Albanese has confirmed the Sydney Quad meeting will not go ahead, after US president Joe Biden pulled out of his Australian visit to deal with domestic issues.

Early Wednesday morning Albanese was still hopeful the meeting with the leaders of India and Japan could proceed with a senior representative from the US, but hours later he confirmed the event was off.

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

Continue reading...

News Corp sports journalist Paul Kent faces court after being charged with assaulting ex-girlfriend

Posted on by

‘Embarrassed’ Daily Telegraph writer and Fox Sports host tells reporters outside court it is his turn in the spotlight of the ‘rugby league soap opera’

The News Corp sports journalist Paul Kent says it is his turn in the spotlight of the “rugby league soap opera” as he faces charges of assaulting his ex-girlfriend.

The senior Daily Telegraph writer and television host was charged on the weekend with two domestic violence-related offences after a 33-year-old woman alleged she had been choked at a home in Sydney’s inner west.

Continue reading...

The cancelled Quad summit is a win for China and a self-inflicted blow to the US’s Pacific standing

Posted on by

Joe Biden’s decision to pull out of visits to Australia and PNG will reflect poorly on the US amid growing competition for influence in the region

The Chinese government is probably the biggest winner from Joe Biden’s decision to pull out of his trip to Australia and Papua New Guinea, forcing the cancellation of the Quad summit in Sydney.

Chinese state media outlets won’t need to muster much creative energy to weave together some of Beijing’s preferred narratives: that the US is racked by increasingly severe domestic upheaval and is an unreliable partner, quick to leave allies high and dry.

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

Continue reading...

Joe Biden cancels Australian visit amid US domestic debt deadlock

Posted on by

President had been due to address parliament next week, the first US leader in 10 years to do so, as part of Asia tour

President Joe Biden has cancelled a visit to Australia, the second leg of his upcoming Asia trip, due to the slow-motion crisis building in Washington over the US debt ceiling.

Biden is to attend a three-day summit of G7 leaders that starts on Friday in Hiroshima, Japan, and will return to the US on Sunday.

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

Continue reading...

Sale of Waterloo South public housing will see residents rehoused nearby, NSW government pledges

Posted on by

Exclusive: Tenants feel let down by Labor, but Chris Minns insists sale does not meet ‘definition of privatisation’

The New South Wales housing mister, Rose Jackson, is moving to reassure tenants in the Waterloo South public housing they will be rehoused within the suburb and offered spots back in the complex when the controversial development is completed.

The government has been fending off criticism for proceeding with the sale and is pushing forward with plans to sell more land to developers for housing, despite promising to end privatisation and freeze the sale of all social housing assets.

Continue reading...

Potential antidote found for toxin in world’s most poisonous mushroom

Posted on by

Chinese and Australian researchers have identified that a dye used in medical imaging can block the toxic effects

Scientists believe they have found a potential antidote for a potent toxin found in the world’s most poisonous mushroom, the death cap.

The death cap mushroom, Amanita phalloides, is responsible for about 90% of mushroom-related deaths globally.

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

Continue reading...

Derek Bromley in final bid for freedom after nearly 40 years in South Australian jail for murder

Posted on by

High court appeal this week is Bromley’s last chance to walk free after being jailed for life

A man who has spent almost 40 years in prison for a murder he says he did not commit will have his final chance at having his conviction overturned by the high court this week.

Derek Bromley and his accomplice, John Karpany, were jailed for life for the murder of Stephen Docoza, whose body was found floating in Adelaide’s River Torrens in 1984.

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

Continue reading...

Regional Australia property market dips as prestige areas give up pandemic gains

Posted on by

Big beneficiaries of regional migration during Covid such as Byron Bay have been hit hardest by increasing interest rates, experts say

Regional Australia’s housing market has taken another hit with prestige areas such as Byron Bay continuing to reverse pandemic gains.

Richmond-Tweed (-24.2%), the southern highlands and Shoalhaven (-16.0%) and Illawarra (-13.7%) in New South Wales recorded the largest annual declines in house values.

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

Continue reading...

NSW taxpayers to fund indemnity for 47 organisations against child abuse claims

Posted on by

Exclusive: State government steps in as private insurers refuse to provide coverage to organisations working with vulnerable children

The New South Wales government has been forced to provide taxpayer-funded indemnity to 47 non-government organisations, including church bodies, to cover child abuse claims, as states and territories scramble to respond to the widespread withdrawal of cover by the private insurance market.

Private insurers are now widely refusing to provide coverage for physical and sexual abuse to organisations working with vulnerable children in out-of-home care and youth homelessness services.

Continue reading...

Joe Biden to address Australian parliament as Richard Marles warns of Aukus ‘barriers’

Posted on by

Anthony Albanese pleased Biden has taken up invitation, an honour also afforded to Barack Obama in 2014

Joe Biden will address the Australian parliament next week, the first US president in nearly 10 years to speak to a joint session of MPs and senators in Canberra.

Officials have confirmed that Biden will make the speech on Tuesday 23 May, the day before he attends the Quad summit in Sydney with the prime ministers of Australia, Japan and India.

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

Continue reading...

Australia news live: Dutton condemns ‘scumbags’ and ‘sick individuals’ after weekend Nazi display in Melbourne

Posted on by

Ahead of Reserve Bank releasing board meeting minutes, opposition leader continues to accuse budget of being inflationary. Follow the day’s news live

Dutton also brushed off the idea that he needs to be careful with his language around migration.

Now in terms of the dog whistling comments and the rest of it. They are comments made by former Labor staffers who now masquerade as journalists. So I don’t take that as authoritative sort of assessment of my view which I think is quite valid.

The best thing we can do for Australian families at the moment is reduce their mortgage payments.

Continue reading...

Rogue NSW taxi drivers still refusing to use meters despite crackdown, commissioner warns

Posted on by

Exclusive: Opposition calls for greater penalties as data reveals 59 fines issued this year, down from 96 between late November and end of December

Rogue taxi drivers are still being caught refusing to use meters and demanding upfront and excessive payments from customers across Sydney, with calls for the New South Wales government to increase penalties for those fined for the illegal behaviour.

A crackdown on taxi drivers attempting to negotiate fares with customers has so far resulted in compliance officers issuing 155 fines to cabbies, after the former Perrottet government passed laws to give the state’s point to point transport commission stronger powers in November.

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

Do you know more? Contact elias.visontay@theguardian.com

Continue reading...

Guardian Essential poll: Labor maintains large lead over Coalition despite budget failing to impress voters

Posted on by

Anthony Albanese records strong approval of his performance, but only about one-third of voters thought the budget would help families

The Albanese government has a commanding lead over the Coalition, 53% to 42% in two-party-preferred terms, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll.

Taken after the release of Labor’s first full-year budget on 9 May, the poll also found that less than one quarter of respondents (24%) think the budget will be good for them personally, although that is up eight points since the same question was asked in November, after the October budget.

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

Continue reading...