Category Archives: Australia news

No clunkers: Australia buying ‘highest quality’ secondhand submarines from US, congressman says

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Senior US lawmaker confident Virginia Class nuclear vessels can be delivered and concerns about joint crewing are ‘overhyped’

Australia buying up to five secondhand Virginia class nuclear submarines would not amount to the US “foisting off clunkers” on to its ally, a senior US lawmaker has said.

On Sunday congressman Joe Courtney, the ranking member of the house seapower subcommittee and the second highest ranking Democrat on the armed services committee, also sought to reassure Australia that concern about joint crewing of nuclear submarines was “overhyped”.

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Sunak heads to US to unveil latest news on Australian nuclear sub deal

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Latest phase of Aukus scheme comes amid concerns about growing threat from China

Rishi Sunak will fly to San Diego on Sunday to unveil plans for supplying Australia with nuclear-powered submarines under the Aukus scheme amid concerns about the growing threat from China.

A major announcement 18 months in the making is expected when the UK prime minister meets his Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese, and US president Joe Biden.

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Queensland floods: police say Burketown ‘not safe’ as dozens airlifted out

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Residents in state’s rural west are bracing for the peak of record flooding on Sunday

Residents in Queensland’s rural west are bracing for the peak of record flooding on Sunday as authorities warn any remaining residents, particularly the elderly and children, to leave immediately.

Police concerns centred on the outback town of Burketown, in the state’s north-west, where authorities were on Saturday “strongly urging all remaining residents to leave … as soon as possible”.

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Attacks on Hindu temples have ‘no place in Australia’, PM says; Sydney trains hit by delays – as it happened

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Burketown flood at ‘record levels’ with helicopter evacuations to continue throughout the day. This blog is now closed

Pandemic marriage laws protected LGBTQI people, advocate says

Marriage laws intended to give couples more flexibility through the Covid-19 pandemic offer LGBTQI people critical protection from discrimination and persecution, an advocate says.

This move to enable a celebrant to witness remotely the signing of a notice of intended marriage needs to be made permanent.

It’s not just for the convenience of anyone. There’s still a lot of queer people in Australia who are not out.

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Drawing closer to US while seeking warmer China ties leaves Australia with a tough balancing act

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Bid to maintain ‘strategic equilibrium’ through the Aukus pact and a better relationship with Beijing is quite the needle to thread

There was a moment in federal parliament this week when the seriousness of the looming Aukus announcement seemed to dawn on the defence minister, Richard Marles.

“It is difficult to overstate the step that, as a nation, we are about to take,” Marles, in the acting prime minister’s chair, solemnly told the chamber on Thursday.

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Australian Catholic order accused of waiting for paedophile to die and using death to shield it from abuse claims

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Marist Brothers approach in seeking to halt a survivor’s case over a clergy member’s death would be ‘absolutely perverse’, court hears

A Catholic order allegedly sat on its hands for almost two years waiting for a notorious paedophile clergy member to die and is now using his death to claim it could no longer receive a fair trial against one of his victims, an approach described in court as “absolutely perverse”.

The Marist Brothers order is currently seeking to permanently halt a survivor’s case alleging abuse by the late Brother Francis “Romuald” Cable, arguing his death renders it unable to fairly defend itself because it can no longer call him as a witness.

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What will it take to win the 2023 NSW election – and what happens if neither side wins a majority?

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Labor needs to pick up nine seats, but if neither major party can get to 47 seats the crossbench will determine the next premier

After three terms in power, the Liberal-National coalition government in New South Wales appears to be on shaky ground, falling behind in the polls and currently operating without a parliamentary majority.

With two weeks to go until the election, there’s still a chance of the Coalition or Labor forming majority or minority government – although a Coalition majority appears least likely.

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Hillsong under investigation by charities regulator over explosive allegations aired in parliament

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Documents tabled by MP Andrew Wilkie claim to show church used jobkeeper funds to help purchase Melbourne’s Festival Hall

The federal charities regulator is investigating Hillsong over explosive allegations aired under parliamentary privilege that it engaged in money laundering and tax evasion, with claims the mega-church earned $80m more than it publicly declared.

Financial documents tabled in parliament by the independent MP Andrew Wilkie, obtained from a whistleblower, claim to show Hillsong used funds from the jobkeeper wage subsidy program to help fund the purchase of Melbourne’s Festival Hall, and that its founder, Brian Houston, used tithes from parishioners to pay for upgraded hotel quarantine accommodation when returning from overseas at the height of the Covid pandemic.

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‘We are so far behind’: Lynda Edwards says Indigenous voice could spur action on NSW treaty

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Comments from NSW premier’s woman of the year come as government minister rules out progress on treaty if re-elected

The New South Wales premier’s woman of the year says the state is “so far behind everyone else” on a treaty with First Nations people, suggesting a federal voice could lead to action despite a declaration by a Coalition minister that it is not on the agenda.

Lynda Edwards received the title on Thursday, when she was also named the NSW Aboriginal woman of the year by Dominic Perrottet for her work advocating for the financial rights of First Nations people and working to reform the financial sector to better serve them.

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Queensland mother whose son took his life calls for change at robodebt royal commission – As it happened

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Inquiry into the unlawful scheme, which ran from 2015 to 2019, is ongoing. This blog is now closed

Final robodebt hearing shines light on people affected

A Centrelink employee and a customer impacted by the illegal robodebt scheme will be the final two witnesses appearing at the royal commission’s public hearings, AAP reports.

The international standard now in the OECD area is beyond 52 weeks. It’s great we’re moving to 26 but we are not going fast enough, doing what other countries are doing. We have slipped down the international rankings on paid parental leave.

It’s very important that we give the support to parents when a new baby arrives so they can share the leave, they can begin life with a new child, give that child the best shot and alongside that, of course, we need quality, early childhood education and care which we in the Greens think should be free, just like primary school.

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Superb fairywrens more likely to help family members in distress than strangers, like humans

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Beloved Australian songbird will risk life and limb for its breeding group but ignore cries for help from unfamiliar birds, scientists say

What do superb fairywrens have in common with humans? They are more likely to help a family member in distress than a stranger.

The study, from scientists at Monash University and the Australian National University, tracked the beloved songbirds in the first research to focus on understanding how animals that live in a multi-level society, like humans, decide to help one another when in need.

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Judge defends ejection of breastfeeding mother and baby from Melbourne court as ‘self-explanatory’

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Doctors and advocates says move ‘not acceptable’ after judge asked a woman feeding her child while observing a trial to leave

A Victorian judge who has been criticised for ejecting a breastfeeding mother and her baby from his courtroom has described his actions as “self-explanatory”.

The woman was feeding her baby while observing a trial in Melbourne’s county court on Thursday when the judge addressed her directly, saying she was not permitted to breastfeed in court because it was a distraction.

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Record-breaking floods in north-west Queensland cause partial evacuation of outback town

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Gulf of Carpentaria town’s elderly residents airlifted and supplies flown to nearby Indigenous community as rivers reach peak levels

Vulnerable people will be evacuated from an outback town by air amid widespread record-breaking floods across Queensland’s vast north-west.

Small helicopters and planes will be used to airlift elderly people from Burketown near the Gulf of Carpentaria to Mount Isa, about 400km to the south, on Friday.

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NRL vows to rid rugby league of racism after alleged slur directed at Latrell Mitchell

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Andrew Abdo has promised the NRL will do all it can to protect its players and eradicate racist fans, after Latrell Mitchell was allegedly abused

NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo has vowed to eradicate racism from the sport as he promised to sanction and educate any fan found to have abused Latrell Mitchell.

Abdo on Friday stopped short of promising a life ban for the spectator who allegedly racially abused Mitchell at Penrith on Thursday night, but said the game would come down hard on any offenders. An investigation into the incident is ongoing.

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Liberal candidate in Kiama refuses to rule out preference deal with Gareth Ward

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Melanie Gibbons faces awkward exchange with journalists a day after stunning Liberal insiders with preselection

The newly preselected Liberal candidate in Kiama, Melanie Gibbons, has refused to rule out striking a preference deal with the sitting MP Gareth Ward in the forthcoming New South Wales election, saying it is “up to the party”.

Gibbons, who is the outgoing MP in the southern Sydney seat of Holsworthy, endured an awkward exchange with journalists on Thursday after stunning Liberal insiders by lodging an 11th-hour nomination to run in Kiama.

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NSW to grant coalmines licences for water from Sydney and Illawarra drinking catchments

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Perrottet government quietly gazetted rules day before caretaker period commenced for election campaign

The Perrottet government has introduced new rules that will grant coalmines licences for water from the drinking catchment for Sydney and the Illawarra region.

The government quietly gazetted the rules a day before the caretaker period commenced for the New South Wales election campaign.

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Australian Catholic order argues paedophile’s death shields it from abuse claims

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Marist Brothers are accused of concealing Francis Cable’s crimes for decades but say they cannot receive a fair trial because they are unable obtain a witness statement from him

A Catholic order will argue on Friday it should be shielded from abuse claims relating to one of the worst paedophiles in the New South Wales Catholic school system because he is dead, despite allegedly concealing his crimes from authorities for decades.

The Marist Brothers allegedly knew of child abuse complaints about Brother Francis “Romuald” Cable from at least 1967, but did nothing to either eject him from the order or inform police, court documents obtained by the Guardian show.

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‘It is ginormous’: bushfire in NSW’s central west puts rural communities on edge

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Rural Fire Service says blaze north of Hill End could burn for weeks as locals struggle to save properties

An out-of-control bushfire in New South Wales’s central west has blazed through properties and scorched bushland, with the NSW Rural Fire Service warning it could be “burning for weeks”.

Dozens of fires have been burning across NSW since Sunday as gusty winds and vegetation growth from last year’s high rainfall make it easier for flames to catch, according to Dean Narramore, a senior meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology.

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Queensland’s north hit by heavy rain and floods as tropical storm heads south

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Widespread rainfall expected in state’s south-east this weekend but nowhere near the 500mm recorded in the north-west

The tropical storm that has caused widespread flooding across far north Queensland is heading south, but is expected to ease before it hits Brisbane, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

Parts of Queensland’s north-west were hit with more than 500mm of rain in the 48 hours to Thursday morning, the BoM information specialist Danny Teece-Johnson said.

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‘Not good enough’: Perrottet vows to increase number of women preselected for Liberals in lower house

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Just a third of candidates are women and NSW premier says he is open to all ideas, including quotas

Women account for just a third of the lower house candidates preselected by the Liberal party ahead of the 25 March state election – putting them behind Labor’s 45%, the Greens’ even split and their own target of 40%.

The premier, Dominic Perrottet, conceded his party was falling short and it was not good enough, saying he wanted half of all candidates pursued at the next election to be women, and insisting he was open to all ideas, including quotas.

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