Hayley Le, whose clients were assessed to be at risk of offending due to extreme beliefs, calls for judicial review of ‘confronting’ conduct
Lawyers for four men targeted using extraordinary terrorism powers are outraged at the failure to disclose serious problems with a tool being used to predict their clients’ likelihood of future offending.
The lawyers say the conduct should be subject to urgent judicial review.
Continue reading...Universal reproductive healthcare committee urged to better credential and train midwives as experts warn of ‘abortion deserts’
Australian midwives are calling for expanded roles, including prescribing medical abortions, as they warn of “abortion deserts” where women cannot access the healthcare they need.
In an inquiry hearing on Friday, midwives are also set to call for broader rights to prescribe contraceptives.
Continue reading...Energy dynamics report finds clean energy is displacing fossil fuels and sending carbon emissions from the sector to new lows
Australia’s record levels of renewable energy helped extend the slide in wholesale power prices in the first three months of 2023, displacing fossil fuels and sending carbon emissions from the sector to new lows for the first quarter.
The latest energy dynamics report by the Australian Energy Market Operator (Aemo) showed wholesale spot prices in the national electricity market (NEM) averaged $83/MWh, down more than a 10th from the December quarter and two-thirds lower than the record average $264/MWh in the June quarter last year.
Continue reading...In test of Australia’s three networks, Open Signal finds Telstra has most consistent user experience overall
Telstra may be Australia’s largest 5G network but Optus fares better for overall network availability and Vodafone leads for 5G availability, according to Open Signal’s latest review of the country’s three mobile networks.
Analyst firm Open Signal tested the three networks across the country in city and regional locations for three months from January to March this year.
Continue reading...Coast guard say passenger went overboard 500 nautical miles (926 kilometres) from Hawaii’s Big Island. Follow live
The US coast guard has confirmed that an Australian man fell overboard on the Quantum of the Seas cruise ship, which was travelling from Brisbane to Hawaii.
The coast guard said the passenger went overboard 500 nautical miles (926 kilometres) from Hawaii’s Big Island.
500 nautical miles south of Hawaii’s Big Island a man fell overboard on Quantum of the Seas cruise ship. He is an Australian national.
A Hercules airplane is on scene conducting a search. At the moment it is the only asset that’s on scene searching.
We’ve been on scene since 9am. And with the crew’s endurance and the fuel constraints of the vessel they should be there for about six hours since arriving on scene.
What I can confirm is the budget will have a cost of living package that is targeted to the most vulnerable. We’ve been clear about that. Obviously some of that is the assistance and support on energy relief. We’ve had the announcements around medicines in the last day.
We are focused on making sure we can do the right thing for those that are doing it tough, but within an environment where there are a lot of demands on the budget in a lot of areas.
Continue reading...Australia’s intelligence agency tells parliamentary inquiry that racist groups are using extremist symbols to raise their profile
Australia’s domestic intelligence agency Asio has welcomed a Coalition bill to ban Nazi symbols including the Sieg Heil salute, telling a parliamentary inquiry it would help prevent recruitment and radicalisation by far-right extremists.
The bill was introduced by shadow attorney general, Michaelia Cash, days after a group of men from the Nationalist Socialist Network repeatedly performed the salute on the steps of Victoria’s parliament last month.
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Continue reading...Former royal commission adviser says ‘no reason’ money from providers can’t be transferred to affiliated companies, which could be used for purposes other than aged care
Aged care providers should not be allowed to charge wealthy residents higher fees until they can demonstrate the money goes towards providing care, a former senior advisor to the royal commission has warned.
Industry lobbyists and one of the biggest aged care providers in Australia believe the change would help address a funding crisis in residential aged care, improve conditions and boost staffing levels.
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Continue reading...Exclusive: One in five renters are among 1 million living in poverty, according to New South Wales Council of Social Services
The “latte line” dividing Sydney’s western and eastern suburbs is hardening, with new research identifying deepening levels of poverty within already disadvantaged areas and groups.
A report commissioned by the New South Wales Council of Social Services (Ncoss) also found one in five renters are among more than 1 million people living in poverty in the state.
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Continue reading...New test results from the Darling-Baaka River show the system is ‘supercharged with nutrients’, expert says
Water testing results from Darling-Baaka River at Menindee indicate the river is “chronically sick” and raises concerns about the overall health of the Murray-Darling Basin, experts say.
The New South Wales Environment Protection Authority (EPA) released the second round of test results days after the state government declared it would treat the deaths of millions of fish at Menindee in far-west NSW as a “pollution incident”.
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Continue reading...Labor urged to ditch skills lists, allow more workers in caring occupations and tackle long wait times for family visas
Australia’s “broken” migration system encourages 1.8 million guest workers to be “permanently temporary” due to strict caps on permanent migration, a landmark review has found.
The migration review, to be released on Thursday by the home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, calls for “major reform”, warning that fixing Australia’s migration system “cannot be achieved by further tinkering and incrementalism”.
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Continue reading...Follow live
The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, is this morning committing to $260m to Australia’s national parks to address problems after “a decade of neglect”.
Plibersek is telling ABC News some parks have become unsafe:
What we’ve seen in our national parks, feral animals, invasive weeds, despite the best efforts of our rangers and staff, they just haven’t been able to keep up with the demand in our parks.
They’ve actually become unsafe. One of the worst examples I heard was broken and missing crocodile signs in Kakadu national park.
Continue reading...Anita Frawley tells parliamentary inquiry the AFL was ‘fantastic’ in caring for her family but needs to do more for other players
The AFL is not doing enough to manage concussion and the long-term effects of brain trauma, Anita Frawley, the widow of AFL player and coach Danny Frawley, has told a parliamentary inquiry.
Giving evidence at a hearing of the federal senate committee inquiry into concussions and repeated head trauma in contact sports, Frawley described the circumstances of her husband’s suicide in 2019, and the posthumous finding that he had suffered from stage two chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the debilitating neurodegenerative disease caused by repeated head trauma which is increasingly linked to long-term exposure to contact sports.
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Continue reading...Treasurer says government’s focus remains on jobs as CEO of Acoss says increasing unemployment benefit still a ‘live debate’
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, says there will be cost-of-living relief in the budget and the government will “prioritise the most vulnerable” but has still refused to commit to raising the jobseeker rate.
Labor backbenchers have broken ranks to publicly call on the government to adopt the first priority recommendation of the economic inclusion advisory committee and “substantially” raise the unemployment benefit.
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Continue reading...Folbigg and her two daughters found to carry a rare genetic variation, which could cast doubt on her convictions, inquiry hears
Counsel assisting an inquiry into Kathleen Folbigg’s convictions have submitted there is reasonable doubt about her guilt over the deaths of her four children.
“On the whole of the body of evidence before this inquiry there is a reasonable doubt as to Ms Folbigg’s guilt,” Sophie Callan SC said, summarising her closing submissions on Wednesday.
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Continue reading...Jaclyn Symes urges other jurisdictions to follow state after announcing ‘staged approach’ to ensure support services are in place
Victoria’s attorney general has acknowledged that plans to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 12 “falls short” of expectations from First Nations groups but described the move as a “first step” and urged other states to follow suit.
Jaclyn Symes confirmed the government will introduce legislation later this year to raise the age from 10 to 12, with no exceptions, which will come into effect in late 2024. It will then be increased to 14 by 2027.
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Continue reading...Millions of Australians face a hike in their Help and Hecs loans when indexation is added on 1 June, the highest increase in decades
Australians with student debt face the highest increase in decades from 1 June, leading to calls from a growing group of MPs and advocates for the government to urgently reform the repayment system amid the cost-of-living crisis.
The March quarterly figures, released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Wednesday, revealed the consumer price index (CPI) for the first three months of 2023 was at an annual rate of 7%, down from the 32-year high in December of 7.8%, but up on last March’s 5.1%.
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Continue reading...Meeting will bring together leaders of the US, India, Japan and Australia at the Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House will be the focus of a major security operation when the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, welcomes the US president, Joe Biden and the prime ministers of India and Japan for a key diplomatic event.
Albanese said on Wednesday that “Australia’s most recognisable building” would be the venue for the Quad leaders’ summit on 24 May.
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Continue reading...Changes to be included in budget will slash costs for GP visits and medicines but pharmacists likely to push back against new policy
Millions of Australians will be able to buy two months’ worth of medicine for the price of a single prescription, in a move that will slash out-of-pocket costs for GP visits and medicines.
The health minister, Mark Butler, announced the change on Wednesday, suggesting it will save patients more than $1.6bn over the next four years.
Continue reading...‘Every death at Gallipoli was like a sapling torn out of the earth,’ Albanese says in first dawn service address as PM. Follow the day’s news live
Symbolic sea burial held at Gold Coast dawn service
At the Anzac Day dawn service at Currumbin on the Gold Coast, the local surf life-saving club held a symbolic burial at sea.
Our two countries already work closely together. William has had a long association with Australia. He’s the chair of our naval expert advisory panel that’s already providing advice on our naval acquisitions, and even when he was a serving officer in the US navy, he provided a critical role, he played a critical role in supporting our efforts, for example, he was instrumental in improving the Collins Class submarine to make it the best diesel-powered submarine in the world.
…We do have Australians involved with that review. It will be a short, sharp review, just to check that we got the right structure of our surface fleet to complement the acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines.
Continue reading...Company says its own code of conduct goes further than the global accord prompted by the Rana Plaza disaster 10 years ago
Major clothing retailer Best&Less has been accused of putting company profit ahead of the safety of Bangladeshi garment workers by declining to sign a key international accord on worker safety and labour rights.
The Rana Plaza disaster, 10 years ago on Monday, prompted outrage at the abysmal safety standards in the Bangladesh factories supplying major clothing brands and retailers, leading to the establishment of a cross-border agreement known as the international accord.
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