Category Archives: Australia news

Ceremony held in Menindee to release offspring of native fish rescued from 2019 Darling-Baaka mass kill

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Silver perch fingerlings released in ceremony designed to address community’s collective trauma over ecological disaster that left millions of dead fish in river

Native fish bred from those rescued from the Darling-Baaka River during the 2019 fish kills were released back into the system at Menindee on Friday in a ceremony designed to address the collective trauma of the ecological disaster.

An estimated 1 million native fish died in the 2019 fish kills, including large numbers of endangered Murray cod. The Narrandera fisheries centre, run by the NSW Department of Primary Industries, helped rescue many fish stranded in the dwindling water supply and toxic blue green algae blooms. Twenty Murray cod, 24 silver perch and 17 golden perch were relocated from Menindee to Narrandera for breeding to help restock fish in the Darling-Baaka River.

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Bridget McKenzie and Mark Coulton reject suggestion they ‘trespassed’ at inland rail project

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Nationals pair say they were at a level crossing on a public road when they visited the rail corridor without ministerial permission

Nationals MP Mark Coulton and senator Bridget McKenzie have angrily rejected suggestions they may have trespassed by visiting the inland rail project near Narromine after permission to do so was denied.

Coulton told Guardian Australia that the issue, pursued by Labor in Senate estimates, was “absolute complete bullshit”, backing McKenzie’s account the pair were at a level crossing on a public road when they visited the rail without the minister’s permission.

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Indigenous deaths in custody at record high and public perception of police worst in 10 years, report finds

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Productivity Commission report on government services says 26% of Australia’s state-owned Indigenous housing is overcrowded

Indigenous deaths in custody are at their highest in the 15 years that records have been kept while public perceptions of the honesty and fairness of police officers has reached a 10-year low, according to new data from the federal Productivity Commission.

The Report on Government Services also found overcrowding in public housing is on the rise, while the number of public housing properties of an acceptable standard has sharply dropped.

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Rex and Bonza call for immediate overhaul of Sydney airport laws to increase competition

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Exclusive: aviation leaders make plea to federal government, saying higher airfares and poorer service will persist without change

Rex Airlines, Bonza and Australia’s airports body are calling on the federal government to immediately make it easier for airlines to introduce flights at Sydney airport and challenge Qantas and Virgin, warning that higher air fares and poorer service will persist if nothing changes.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission this week savaged policy shortcomings that are shutting out meaningful competition and have allowed for a duopoly to develop in Australia’s aviation market.

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Economists split over prospects of another rate rise ahead of RBA meeting

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Despite 11 hikes in the cash rate since last May, some forecasters think the central bank could still raise borrowing costs again

It’s Reserve Bank roulette time for another month with borrowers and pundits bracing for the potential of another rate rise surprise.

Since May last year, the central bank has lifted interest rates on the first Tuesday of each month, with only the January holiday break and a short-lived pause in April breaking the metronomic rise in mortgage pain.

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Australia news live: economists push interest rate forecasts higher; teens arrested over violent carjacking

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Eight teenagers in police custody after allegedly dragging woman from car on the Gold Coast. Follow the day’s news live

Business groups argue ‘same job, same pay’ laws would disadvantage workers

I mentioned a little earlier that business groups have glommed together to launch a campaign against the federal government’s proposed “same job, same pay” industrial relations laws.

The so-called ‘Same Job, Same Pay’ proposals does not mean equal pay for men and women. It does not speak of fairness and justice, as its name falsely represents.

It means by law, employers will have to pay workers with little knowledge or experience exactly the same as workers with decades of knowledge and experience.

Without a real threat of losing passengers to other airlines, the Qantas and Virgin Australia airline groups have had less incentive to offer attractive airfares, develop more direct routes, operate more reliable services, and invest in systems to provide high levels of customer service.

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School bus driver and two camels killed in central Queensland crash

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The man was on his way to work when he crashed into the escaped animals in Livingstone, police say

A school bus driver has been killed after he crashed into two escaped camels in central Queensland.

Both camels were also killed in the crash on Emu Park Road in Livingstone, east of Rockhampton, shortly after 5am on Monday, police said.

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Kathleen Folbigg pardoned and released after 20 years in jail over deaths of her four children

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Release comes after inquiry heard that Folbigg and her two daughters had rare genetic variation and her son may have died from an underlying neurogenetic disorder

Kathleen Folbigg has been pardoned and released after two decades in prison over the deaths of her four children, following a decision of the New South Wales attorney general, Michael Daley.

Folbigg, who has always maintained her innocence, had served 20 years of a 25-year sentence since being convicted in 2003 of murdering three of her children, and the manslaughter of one child.

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Bruce Lehrmann says ABC acted maliciously by showing Brittany Higgins speech, court documents show

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Former political staffer suing national broadcaster over a February 2022 joint address by Higgins and Grace Tame at the National Press Club

Bruce Lehrmann has accused the Australian Broadcasting Corporation of acting maliciously by broadcasting Brittany Higgins’ National Press Club address, saying in court documents it was “wilfully blind” to the risk of her defaming him or making prejudicial comments close to his trial.

Lehrmann is suing the ABC over a joint address by Higgins and Grace Tame to the National Press Club in February 2022, which was broadcast live and later uploaded in full to the ABC’s YouTube channel.

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‘Simply didn’t happen’: Bruce Lehrmann insists he did not rape Brittany Higgins

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In first TV interview since accusations, former political staffer says he’s ‘not ruling out’ defamation action against former colleague

Former political staffer Bruce Lehrmann has insisted he did not rape fellow staffer Brittany Higgins and says he has not ruled out suing her.

Speaking to the Seven Network’s Spotlight program in his first TV interview since the accusation came to light, Lehrmann offered his version of events, saying the assault “simply didn’t happen”.

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Jail terms for exploiting migrant workers to be introduced in Australian government crackdown

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New laws to include making it a criminal offence to coerce someone into breaching their visa condition and bans on hiring other visa holders

Australian employers who exploit migrant workers will be banned from hiring other visa holders and will face new criminal penalties, as part of a government crackdown.

On Monday the federal government will announce legal changes to tackle what it calls “a crisis of exploitation with up to one in six recent migrants paid less than the minimum wage”.

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‘Last resort’: government faces legal action to force repatriation of Australians from Syrian refugee camps

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Seventeen women and nine children will take the government to court, arguing that Australia has ‘effective control’ of their detention and the power to set them free

Australian mothers and children held in a Syrian detention camp will take the Australian government to court in an attempt to compel the government to bring them home.

Seventeen Australian women and nine children – the wives, widows, and children of slain or jailed Islamic State fighters – held in the Roj camp in north-east Syria, will file a writ of habeas corpus in the federal court on Monday morning, arguing that Australia has “effective control” of their detention and the power to set them free.

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Qantas and Virgin given little incentive to cheapen air fares, watchdog warns

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ACCC warns airline industry is at ‘critical juncture’ with a developing duopoly stunting competition

Australian aviation is at a “critical juncture”, with policy shortcomings allowing for a duopoly marked by higher air fares and poorer service, the consumer watchdog warns, as it loses extra resources to scrutinise the sector.

Qantas Group – including budget carrier Jetstar – and Virgin Australia have carried 90% of domestic passengers over the past two decades, and as many as 94% in April this year, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s quarterly domestic aviation monitoring report released on Monday, the final edition of the three-year task.

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Australian government considers compensation for Afghanistan war crime victims

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Human rights and legal groups have stepped up their calls for a compensation plan in the wake of the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation ruling

The Australian government is looking for “a way forward” to compensate families of victims of alleged war crimes in Afghanistan, the defence minister has told legal advocates.

But officials continue to warn about the complexity of the compensation issue, one of the key outstanding recommendations from the landmark Brereton inquiry into alleged war crimes by Australian special forces soldiers.

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Can your suburb help fix Australia’s housing crisis? It all comes down to density

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Despite adding millions of people and dwellings over the past decade, our cities are well behind globally in terms of population density

Skyrocketing rents and a projected home shortage have sparked fierce debate on the most effective ways to address Australia’s housing crisis.

Experts say one of the most effective fixes is to increase the supply of housing, specifically infilling urban areas to increase the density of areas where people actually want to live.

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Anthony LaPaglia ‘scared and excited’ to make Australian stage debut in Death of a Salesman

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Golden Globe and Tony-winning actor will star as Willy Loman in a Melbourne production directed by Neil Armfield

It has been more than a decade since the Golden Globe-winning Australian actor Anthony LaPaglia appeared on stage – and almost quarter of a century since he triumphed on Broadway, winning a Tony award as Eddie Carbone in A View From the Bridge.

Next month the Los Angeles-based Without a Trace actor will return to Australia to begin rehearsals on another Arthur Miller classic: the 20th-century masterpiece Death of a Salesman, directed by Neil Armfield.

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Richard Marles meets Gen Li Shangfu, as Chinese defence minister refuses formal meeting with US counterpart

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Defence minister is also believed to have raised concerns about the ongoing detention of Australian citizens and human rights issues

Australian defence minister Richard Marles has met his Chinese counterpart and called for “safe and professional interactions” between military planes and ships in the Indo-Pacific region.

Marles is also believed to have raised concerns about the ongoing detention of Australian citizens and human rights issues during talks with China’s defence minister, Gen Li Shangfu, at a regional security summit in Singapore.

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Australia news live: China in focus for PM’s Vietnam meeting; plastics treaty draft under way

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Anthony Albanese will meet with Vietnamese prime minister Pham Minh Chinh, as well as the Communist Party general secretary, the president and the chairman of the national assembly. Follow the day’s news, live

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, will meet Vietnam’s top leaders in Hanoi today as part of an official state visit.

He’ll begin his day visiting the Mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam’s communist revolutionary leader and first president, before meeting with Vietnamese prime minister Pham Minh Chinh, as well as the Communist Party general secretary, the president and the chairman of the national assembly.

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Greens offer compromise on Labor’s stalled housing bill, scaling back demands

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Party says they are willing to negotiate to pass housing bill through Senate ‘but Labor has to shift’ on rent freezes and direct action

The Greens have scaled back their demands on housing, offering to pass Labor’s future fund bill in return for $2.5bn a year of direct spending and action on soaring rents.

The Greens and Albanese government are still locked in negotiations over the $10bn housing Australia future fund, with the latest offer from the minor party designed to allow the Senate to pass the bill in the June sitting.

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Humpback whale freed after gruelling eight-hour rescue mission in Australia

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Deteriorating conditions and other whales in area south of Sydney hampered attempts, say rescuers

A humpback whale trapped in waters south of Sydney has finally been freed after a gruelling eight-hour rescue mission.

Rescue efforts began on Saturday morning after reports of a whale in distress off Five Islands near Port Kembla. Volunteer crews from Marine Rescue NSW and NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service were called to assist at about 8.30am.

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