Category Archives: Australia news

Jock Zonfrillo remembered in televised tribute as MasterChef Australia returns

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Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver, Nigella and Marco Pierre White among those giving emotional tributes to late chef ahead of 15th series

Celebrity chefs including Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay, Nigella Lawson and former boss Marco Pierre White have remembered Jock Zonfrillo in a televised tribute dedicated to the late MasterChef Australia judge a week after his sudden death.

Network 10 aired the first episode of the new season of MasterChef Australia on Sunday night, having delayed the premiere until Zonfrillo’s family gave their blessing for it to air. Filming of the series was completed last month.

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Anthony Albanese gives ‘crucial’ pledge of allegiance to King Charles III at coronation

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Prime minister returns to Australia on Sunday after joining in pledge to new monarch, a decision backed by colleagues

Anthony Albanese’s decision to pledge allegiance to King Charles at the monarch’s coronation has been described as “crucial” by his own government, despite the prime minister’s stance as a staunch republican.

The prime minister on Sunday said it was an honour to represent Australia at the coronation, where he entered Westminster Abbey behind Governor-General David Hurley and the national flag-bearer, soccer star Sam Kerr.

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‘First proper day of winter’: snow and hail blanket parts of NSW and ACT as cold front settles across south-east

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Widespread areas of frost and temperatures of near or below zero expected for ranges and further west with BoM forecasting ‘cooler days’

Canberra residents have described Sunday as the “first proper day of winter” after snow and hail fell on parts of the city, as a cold front brought cooler temperatures to parts of south-eastern Australia.

Rain, hail and snow fell across parts of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, and though temperature lows are not breaking records just yet, Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Gabrielle Woodhause said “we are entering some of the cooler days seen so far this year”.

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Tasmania pushing to fast-track new AFL stadium; Chalmers slip hints at budget surplus – as it happened

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‘It’s tough’: Taylor on whether LNP can hold Fadden after Stuart Robert retirement

Taylor is asked whether the LNP can hold Fadden at the upcoming byelection to fill the spot left by Stuart Robert after he suddenly announced his retirement and says “it’s tough”.

That’s the nature of modern politics.

But the point I would make is the real test right now is this inflation test.

The more the treasurer talks about restraint, the more we know he’s planning to spend. That is the double speak we are getting from Labor right now.

I think it is a test of whether inflation is being dealt with. The truth of the matter is we know there is no bigger conversation around the kitchen table right now than this inflation that’s hitting. It is a tax on everyone and everything. We want to see a budget that deals with that.

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Federal budget: Labor to collect billions more in petroleum resource rent tax

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Treasurer Jim Chalmers and finance minister Katy Gallagher announce changes ahead of budget tipped to be at or near surplus

Labor will cap deductions to collect $2.4bn more in petroleum resource rent tax over four years and boost community services by $4bn through fairer indexation of wage costs.

The two major measures were announced by the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, and finance minister, Katy Gallagher, ahead of Tuesday’s budget, which is expected to be at or near surplus.

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Queensland urged to prevent youth crime at its roots following Maryborough tragedy

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Fatal car crash shows a different approach is needed to keep the community safe, leading children and human rights advocates say

Queensland can only prevent youth crime by setting tangible goals to improve children’s lives from their earliest days, the state’s leading children and human rights advocates have warned.

Speaking after a three-car crash in Maryborough on Sunday that led to the deaths of three women, Queensland’s human rights commissioner, Scott McDougall, said the tragedy showed a different approach was needed to keep the community safe.

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Deeming says she ‘never once’ considered suing party – as it happened

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Suspended Victorian MP says she remains a ‘proud Liberal’ and past six weeks have taken a ‘terrible toll’. This blog has now closed

Stuart Robert says his time in parliament ‘has not been the smoothest ride’

Stuart Robert, who was a close confidant of the former prime minister Scott Morrison, served as the minister for veterans’ affairs, the minister for the national disability insurance scheme and the minister for government services under the Turnbull and Morrison governments.

I am the first to acknowledge my time in parliament has not been the smoothest ride. Politics is tough. People throw the kitchen sink at you. And promises of a kinder, gentler parliament need to be taken with a grain of salt. We may all aspire to it, but ambition in politics will always win – as Labor stalwart Graham Richardson aptly put it: whatever it takes.

I do hope civility does eventually come to the theatre of politics. But I do fear division has well and truly entrenched itself in the current parliament. A kinder, gentler parliament it is not.

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Moira Deeming facing new expulsion push as she denies threatening to sue Liberal party

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Five MPs have given John Pesutto a notice of motion seeking her expulsion, which will go to the party room on Friday

In the latest instalment of a saga engulfing the Victorian Liberal party, the suspended MP Moira Deeming has put out a statement declaring that she “never once considered suing the Liberal party”.

That claim comes days after she emailed MPs saying she had advised her lawyers to prepare a legal challenge to her suspension.

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Stuart Robert: former minister and ally of Scott Morrison to retire, sparking byelection

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Robert’s retirement means a second byelection test for Peter Dutton’s opposition, this time in the Queensland seat of Fadden

The former Morrison government minister Stuart Robert has officially announced his retirement from federal politics, to become a “full time husband, father and son”.

Robert’s retirement announcement means a second byelection test for the opposition, this time in Liberal National party heartland, with Robert’s seat of Fadden on the Gold Coast traditionally a conservative stronghold.

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Julian Assange writes letter to King Charles and urges him to visit Belmarsh prison

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The WikiLeaks founder writes that he has been captive in the prison for more than four years ‘on behalf of an embarrassed foreign sovereign’

Julian Assange has written a letter to King Charles ahead of his coronation inviting him to visit the UK prison where the WikiLeaks founder has been captive for more than four years “on behalf of an embarrassed foreign sovereign”.

The letter is the first document the Australian journalist and WikiLeaks founder has written and published since his time in Belmarsh prison in London and accounts the horrors of his life there.

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Victorian government urged to act as more drag events cancelled in wake of threats from far-right

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Advocates say cancellations may embolden anti-LGBTQ+ groups to target other events and state needs stronger anti-vilification laws

LGBTQ+ advocates are urging the Victorian government to do more to protect the queer community after threats from far-right groups led to five Melbourne drag events being cancelled in the past six months.

They say that while cancellations may protect people at an individual event, calling them off may embolden anti-LGBTQ+ groups to target other events.

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Sydney Harbour to receive $45m for repair and protection after ‘decade of neglect’

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Harbourside sites such as seawalls and wharves at Cockatoo Island and Macquarie Lightstation in Vaucluse to be shored up with investment

Culturally and environmentally significant sites in Sydney Harbour will be repaired and protected with a $45m investment in Tuesday’s budget that the federal environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, claims is needed after “a decade of neglect”.

The money will be used to shore up a range of harbourside sites, including unstable seawalls and deteriorating wharves at Cockatoo Island, also known as Wareamah, and critical maintenance to keep sites open to tourists.

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Bluey: scene removed from Exercise episode after complaints about fat-shaming

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Re-edited version omits opening scene after claims of fatphobia and replaces original on ABC and BBC platforms

The ABC has removed part of a Bluey episode that sparked accusations of fat-shaming and fatphobia.

It has now republished a version of the popular cartoon without a bathroom scene that showed Bluey’s parents complaining about their weight.

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Opposition leader says no federal intervention needed – as it happened

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Albanese added he is concerned about Assange’s mental health.

There was a court decision here in the United Kingdom that was then overturned on appeal that went to Mr Assange’s health, as well, and I am concerned for him.

It’s frustrating. I share the frustration. I can’t do more than make very clear what my position is.

… I think that the Assange case needs to be looked at in terms of what occurred, what the allegations are, and whether the time effectively that has been served already is in excess of what would be reasonable if it were proved that this had occurred.

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Brisbane man sentenced to 14 years’ jail for attempted murder of ex-girlfriend

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‘He said “I’m going to kill you” and that’s when I saw the axe,’ Mari Buci told the jury of the attack

A man found guilty of attempted murder after attacking his ex-girlfriend with a hatchet in a Brisbane has been sentenced to 14 years in jail.

Good Samaritans came to the aid of Maria Buci after Cameron Turgay Bardak ambushed her in a CBD car park in July 2020, a court had heard

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Mother who murdered her three children and burned their bodies sentenced to life in prison

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Margaret Dale Hawke will spend at least 25 years in jail for killing her daughter and two sons in the family’s Port Hedland home

A mother who stabbed, strangled and suffocated her three children before burning their bodies in a house fire will spend at least 25 years behind bars.

Margaret Dale Hawke, 36, pleaded guilty to three counts of murder after killing her 10-year-old daughter and two sons, aged seven and four months, in the family’s Port Hedland home in Western Australia on 19 July 2022.

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News Corp-backed gambling startup Betr for sale after record $210,000 fine last month

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Betting company approached by multiple ‘international and domestic’ potential buyers after its acquisition of rival PointsBet fell through

The News Corp-backed gambling startup Betr is up for sale, less than a year after its launch and following a record $210,000 fine from regulators last month.

The company, which launched with an aggressive promotional campaign in October, has been approached by multiple potential buyers after discussions around its potential acquisition of rival PointsBet fell through.

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In Australia, Gambling Help Online is available on 1800 858 858. The National Debt Helpline is at 1800 007 007. In the UK, support for problem gambling can be found through GamCare on 0808 8020 133. In the US, the National Council on Problem Gambling is on 800-522-4700

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Moira Deeming faces new challenge as Victorian Liberals push for vote to expel her from party

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Peter Dutton tells state colleagues ‘I want this mess sorted out’ after MP threatened to sue

Suspended Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming will face a new challenge to expel her from the party as early as next week after she threatened the party’s leader, John Pesutto, with legal action.

Amid warnings from the federal opposition leader, Peter Dutton, of an intervention into the Victorian party, seven state Liberal MPs told Guardian Australia they are willing to put forward the motion to expel Deeming.

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Labor to scrap Coalition’s ‘punitive’ ParentsNext scheme from next year

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Albanese government says mutual obligations under the widely criticised program will end immediately

The Albanese government will scrap the controversial ParentsNext program from next year and stop compulsory obligations for participants immediately in a significant win for campaigners.

The decision comes after years of protest from advocates about the pre-employment program, which saw about 100,000 people on parenting payments drawn into the mutual obligations system.

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$60m a day: soaring interest bill on Australia’s debt eclipses cost of childcare or infrastructure

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Treasurer says $112bn cost over five years is one of fastest growing pressures on budget, blaming Coalition for the ‘mess’ it left

Interest payments on commonwealth government debt will cost the federal budget $112bn over five years, or $60m a day.

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, revealed the soaring cost of debt ahead of Tuesday’s budget, which will show interest now costs more than the family tax benefit, childcare or infrastructure.

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