Category Archives: Australia news

Australia news live: some Central Coast residents told ‘evacuate now’ amid coastal erosion threat; children’s commissioner says child safety ‘not a priority in this country’

Posted on by

NSW braces for damaging winds and heavy rain from coastal low. Follow the latest updates live

Gas market review will ‘drive efficiencies in the system’, King says

The resources minister, Madeleine King, says a review into gas market regulations will drive efficiencies into the system.

Our existing policy has made sure that that gas is available. So that’s that combination of existing policies brings in that extra 600 petajoules. So indeed, that work is already happening.

What we’re trying to do and will endeavour to do, and the industry is very supportive of, is to make that more coherent, and how we can make sure we learn from the whole system, reduce duplication in some of the regulation, some of the reporting factors, simply how we can make it work better for consumers, for industrial users, and for the Gas industry itself. And that drives efficiencies in the system, which we expect will help with pricing.

We were honest with the public from day one: the toll situation would get worse before it got better. That’s the reality of the infrastructure pipeline locked in by our predecessors.

And now, the most recent NSW Budget reflects that – with toll revenue projected to rise from $180m to $283m in the 2028–29 financial year.

Continue reading...

Women and babies could die due to midwife cuts at Sydney’s RPA hospital, staff warn

Posted on by

Midwives’ union president warns women giving birth at one of the city’s largest hospitals will not receive a level of care considered safe

Midwives at one of Sydney’s largest hospitals have warned women and babies could die in light of cuts to the number of midwives staff deployed across the birth and delivery unit.

Hospital staff say 20 full-time equivalent roles have been removed from across the women and babies service at Royal Prince Alfred (RPA) hospital in Camperdown, including five from the midwifery group practice (MGP), effective from Tuesday.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

‘Shock to creative ecology’: NSW regional art galleries face funding crisis after state pulls financial support

Posted on by

Peak arts bodies urge review of decision that jeopardises institutions which are the ‘lifeblood’ of regional Australian cultural life

Three out of four regional public art galleries in New South Wales are facing a funding crisis after the state government pulled its financial support as a result of a massive restructure of its cultural funding arm, Create NSW.

Wagga Wagga, Orange, Armidale, Broken Hill and Tamworth are among 18 regional centres in NSW with major public art galleries that will no longer receive four-year funding from the state government, worth between about $70,000 and $200,000 a year.

Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning

Continue reading...

Federal court orders Sydney Muslim cleric to remove ‘racist and antisemitic’ lectures from social media

Posted on by

Wissam Haddad was sued by two members of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry over lectures in 2023 recorded in Bankstown

A Sydney Muslim cleric has been ordered by the federal court to take down a series of “fundamentally racist and antisemitic” speeches posted online, and instructed by a judge not to make similar addresses again.

But Justice Angus Stewart ruled other criticisms of the state of Israel and its military did not breach the Racial Discrimination Act, finding it is not inherently antisemitic to criticise Israel.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

NSW weather: Sydney and south coast residents warned to ‘stay indoors’ as vigorous coastal low batters state

Posted on by

Emergency services minister says ‘it may seem pretty bad [now] but the situation is going to worsen’ overnight with damaging rain and winds

Destructive winds and heavy rain are hitting large swathes of the New South Wales coast with authorities warning the situation will deteriorate over the next 24 hours.

Some areas received a month’s worth of rain in one day while others recorded winds above 100km/h as a vigorous coastal low continued to intensify on Tuesday afternoon.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Prison treatment of Indigenous teenager Cleveland Dodd was cruel, lawyer tells inquest

Posted on by

The 16-year-old was subject to ‘institutional abuse’ by WA justice department staff, coroner in Perth hears

An Indigenous teenager who fatally self-harmed in detention was subjected to “cruel and inhumane” treatment, a lawyer for his family said after the inquest into his death resumed.

Cleveland Dodd was found unresponsive inside a cell in Unit 18, a youth wing of the high-security Casuarina prison facility for adults in Perth, in the early hours of 12 October 2023.

Continue reading...

Lawyers investigate whether Hannah Thomas could sue police over alleged excessive use of force at Sydney protest

Posted on by

Critical incident investigation declared into arrest of former Greens candidate who says she could lose sight in right eye

Lawyers are investigating whether protesters could sue New South Wales police over alleged excessive use of force during a pro-Palestine protest in Sydney, after which the former Greens candidate Hannah Thomas said she could lose sight in her right eye.

Thomas, 35, who ran against the prime minister at the federal election, was arrested at the Belmore protest which was attended by about 60 people on Friday. She was subsequently taken to hospital and underwent surgery.

Continue reading...

Australia news live: east coast braces for wild weather; former Greens candidate charged after she was injured during arrest

Posted on by

Australia’s eastern states are in for another lashing of rain as a powerful low pressure system develops off the coast. Follow the latest news updates live

Australia’s eastern states are in for another lashing of rain as a powerful low pressure system develops off the coast with flood-weary regions a possible target.

“Tuesday and Wednesday are the two biggest days in regards to rainfall and weather impacts,” the Bureau of Meteorology’s Angus Hines said.

I do. I think this review that’s going on in the United States at present is fairly unremarkable. I mean … the other governments, the British and Australian governments … when they changed, had a review – so it’s not unreasonable the Americans do that.

I think, at the end of the day, a decision to have a nuclear powered submarine is a good one.

Continue reading...

Chinese authority scams fleece international students in Australia of $5m in five months

Posted on by

National Anti-Scam Centre warns that fraudsters posing as Mandarin-speaking law enforcement officers are becoming more threatening

Scammers pretending to be Chinese authorities are increasingly targeting international students in Australia, threatening “serious trouble” and 24-hour surveillance and fleecing them of more than $5m in just five months.

The scammers claim to be Chinese law enforcement officers who demand that personal information or money be transferred to them.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

‘It’s not Chinese assistance’: Australia accuses China of taking undue credit for aid projects in the Pacific

Posted on by

Minister Pat Conroy says Chinese ‘branding’ of multilateral development projects to bolster its influence in the region is a consistent frustration

China is bolstering its geopolitical influence in the Pacific by “branding” Asian Development Bank projects – funded in significant part by Australian taxpayer dollars – as Chinese projects, the Australian government says.

On the island of Bougainville, an autonomous region of Papua New Guinea to Australia’s north, the state-owned China Railway Construction Corporation has begun work to strengthen the runway at Kieta-Aropa, on the outskirts of the largest city.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Australian influencers warned after several accounts inadvertently promote illegal offshore bookmakers

Posted on by

Exclusive: Leon Australia calls itself ‘Australia’s #1 Interactive Gaming and Sportsbook since 2008’ but is licensed in a tiny island off Africa

Social media influencers have been inadvertently promoting a gambling company that poses as an Australian outfit but is instead licensed and regulated from a tiny island off the east coast of Africa.

The influencers, including someone claiming to be “Australia’s #1 biological male” and a duo called DegenerateAngelss, have also shared financial inducements from the bookmaker that encourage Australians into opening accounts with it.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Greens call for investigation into NSW police arrest that injured former candidate

Posted on by

Sue Higginson demands critical incident be declared after Hannah Thomas taken for surgery, but acting police minister says matter does not ‘meet the threshold’

A Greens MP has called for an independent investigation into New South Wales police arrests at a protest that resulted in a former Greens candidate being taken to hospital with serious facial injuries.

Sue Higginson says a critical incident should be declared after Hannah Thomas, who ran against Anthony Albanese in the Sydney electorate of Grayndler, sustained facial injuries during arrest at a protest on Friday. The protest was outside a business in Belmore accused of “supplying electroplating and surface coating services for a variety of applications including aerospace and defence technology” to Israel.

Continue reading...

David Crisafulli found to be ‘careless’ in not declaring $200,000 in payments related to company he ran

Posted on by

But Queensland premier is not in contempt of parliament over the payments, ethics committee finds

The Queensland premier, David Crisafulli, was “careless” in not declaring $200,000 in payments he made after a company he had run became insolvent, the state’s parliamentary ethics committee has found.

Crisafulli became sole director and chief executive of Southern Edge Training Solutions after losing his north Queensland seat at the 2015 election.

Continue reading...

Australian government loans $100m to install EV chargers and solar panels at Bunnings and Officeworks stores

Posted on by

Work to upgrade facilities at Bunnings and Officeworks sites is expected to be completed by the end of this year

Wesfarmers has secured a $100m loan with the government’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation to install more solar panels, batteries and EV chargers at its Bunnings and Officeworks stores.

The chief executive of the CEFC, Ian Learmonth, said he hoped the financing package at the high-profile stores would help create a “ripple effect” through the commercial sector, where the uptake of rooftop solar has been slower than across residential properties.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Albanese will need to resolve the standoff with Turkey if Australia is to host Cop31

Posted on by

Hosting the climate summit is a major political and logistical exercise. The prime minister is being urged to turbocharge the diplomatic effort

The Australian government’s bid to host a major global climate conference in Adelaide next year wasn’t supposed to go like this.

A two-week meeting of diplomats at the UN climate headquarters in Bonn, Germany, failed to resolve what has become a long-running issue: whether the summit known as Cop31 would be held in Australia or Turkey, the only other nation vying for the rights.

Continue reading...

‘We don’t want to go’: Australian couple told to pay $3,500 to postpone flights amid Middle East volatility

Posted on by

Experts say consumers are unlikely to have any legal rights to defer flights unless the airline’s fine print allows it

Sharon Latour and her husband are scheduled to fly through Abu Dhabi on an Etihad flight on Wednesday, just nine days after Iran launched a missile strike on a US base in nearby Qatar.

As of Friday, the Australian couple’s flight was still scheduled for takeoff despite the volatility in the region. Latour is upset that Etihad are insisting on charging her $3,500 to change their tickets if they want to postpone their trip until early next year.

Continue reading...

Solar power: Kangaroo Point Bridge leads winners as Queensland architecture awards put spotlight on sustainability

Posted on by

Bridge that spans Brisbane River and includes solar panels and shade along its length hailed as a transformative piece of urban infrastructure

The newest bridge spanning the Brisbane River – the longest cable-stayed pedestrian bridge in the country – has taken out top honours in the 2025 Australian Institute of Architects Queensland awards.

A week after Sydney’s new network of city metro stations collected architecture’s most prestigious prize in New South Wales, Brisbane’s Kangaroo Point Bridge was lauded at Friday night’s award ceremony as another example of the significant value of state governments investing in architecture to realise major infrastructure projects that raise the bar beyond the realm of mere functionality.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Australia news live: Minns’ team asked why premier focused on possibility of ‘terrorism’ in NSW caravan plot announcement

Posted on by

Follow the latest updates live

The foreign minister, Penny Wong, is expected to join a meeting of her Quad counterparts in Washington DC next week.

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said on Friday he would host foreign ministers from Australia, India and Japan on 1 July, with the meeting set to discuss geopolitical issues and China’s treatment of Indo-Pacific nations.

Continue reading...

Teenage boy charged with murder after allegedly stabbing man during Brisbane house party

Posted on by

Boy, 15, charged with one count of murder after alleged stabbing of 58-year-old at Clayfield home on Thursday

Distressed teenagers are being spoken to by police after a man’s fatal stabbing at a Brisbane house party packed with dozens of young people.

Police have charged a 15-year-old boy with murder after the 58-year-old’s body was found inside a large home in the upmarket inner-city suburb of Clayfield on Thursday night.

Continue reading...

Melbourne’s Savage Club to allow ‘lady guest’ diners as cost of living strikes men-only haven

Posted on by

Falling attendance at club’s dining rooms is ‘uneconomic and dispiriting for staff members’, president says, as six-month trial starts

“Lady guests” will be welcomed into one of Australia’s oldest private clubs as the cost-of-living crisis pushes the men-only Melbourne Savage Club into a six-month trial of mixed dining.

In a survey of the club’s members last year, just 2% (four men) of respondents voted in favour of admitting women as card-carrying members, but they were keen to allow an increase in guests.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...