Category Archives: Australia news

Australia news live: Alan Joyce secures final $3.8m bonus two years after leaving Qantas; neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell refused bail

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Former chief executive left the airline after a series of corporate decisions sparked a reputational crisis. Follow today’s news live

Coalition of the willing meeting a ‘positive sign’ for Ukraine, former ambassador says

The former Australian ambassador to Russia, Peter Tesch, has appeared on ABC News Breakfast after Anthony Albanese joined a virtual meeting with world leaders signed up to the coalition of the willing for Ukraine on Thursday night.

The issue is that we are still no closer to a credible and durable peace settlement, because Moscow keeps walking both sides of the street, and that is provoking a degree of frustration. But in the absence of serious, additional pressure upon Moscow, it’s difficult to see a near-term solution here - notwithstanding Ukraine’s clear willingness to engage seriously in discussions.

And importantly, although the details are vague … President Trump at least remains engaged in that dialogue and that’s very important.

Our case for a 35% pay increase over three years will begin in the NSW Industrial Relations Commission later this month. As part of this case, which is one of the biggest industrial cases this state has seen, we will present evidence around the gendered undervaluation of nurses and midwives’ work and the work value changes our professions have seen over the past 16 years.

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This old railway yard is for sale. Could new solar-powered trains be built there?

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Push for NSW locomotive workshop to be returned to government hands and used to retrofit diesel trains and help meet 50% Australian-made quotas

One of New South Wales’ few remaining large railway yards has been put up for sale, with locals pushing for state and federal government intervention to reinvigorate the rail industry.

Lithgow’s locomotive workshop, owned by Pacific National and reported to have an asking price of $35m, includes maintenance pit bays and outbuildings. It was ceded to the freight operator in 2003 when the state privatised its freight services and has been little-used since.

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Two women killed while trying to help injured kangaroo on Melbourne freeway

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Police say one 30-year-old died at the scene on the Hume Highway and the other, also 30, was airlifted to hospital but died soon afterwards

Two women have died after being hit by a car while trying to help an injured kangaroo on a busy freeway in Melbourne’s north.

The deaths have prompted warnings about the dangers of stopping to help wildlife.

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Decision to close Meanjin criticised as act of ‘utter cultural vandalism’

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Shutting long-running literary journal, which published emerging writers as well as the cream of Australia’s literary talent, described as ‘enormous loss’

One of Australia’s longest running literary journals has been scrapped, in what has been described as an act of “utter cultural vandalism” on the part of the University of Melbourne.

After 85 years, Meanjin, run by the university’s subsidiary Melbourne University Publishing (MUP), will publish its last edition in December. Although the journal’s editor, Esther Anatolitis, worked her last day at Meanjin on Thursday, the spring and summer quarterly editions of the journal are already at the printers.

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People banished to Nauru by Australia face hostile reception as $2.5bn cost of deal revealed

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Home affairs department reveals just-signed transfer deal, worth $408m upfront to Nauru, forecast to cost Australia $2.5bn over 30 years

The group of noncitizens set to be banished by Australia to Nauru for 30 years face a potentially hostile reception because they have been described as “violent” and “appalling” by the Australian government.

The forcible transfer of the so-called NZYQ group – and potentially thousands more under legislation currently before parliament – to the tiny island is being quietly resented by Nauruans, sources on the island have told Guardian Australia.

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Neo-nazi Thomas Sewell will continue to commit violent offences that could lead to death, police tell court

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Sewell, who has been charged over alleged attack on Indigenous protest site, described in court as having ‘at his disposal a large group of followers’

Neo-nazi Thomas Sewell – who allegedly led an attack on a First Nations encampment in Melbourne over the weekend – will continue to commit violent offences that could lead to death, a court heard.

Sewell, 32, applied to be freed on bail on Wednesday after being charged over an alleged attack on Melbourne’s Camp Sovereignty on Sunday.

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Four Chinese carmakers enter Australian top 10 for first time, while Tesla sales slump

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BYD overtakes Mitsubishi after nearly quadrupling sales in past year, according to official figures, as GWM, MG and Chery also surge

Australians bought more than 20,000 Chinese-made vehicles in August, putting four Chinese brands into the top 10 for the first time, while Tesla sales have slumped by more than a third.

BYD came in sixth for the month, overtaking Mitsubishi, after its sales nearly quadrupled compared with August 2024, while GWM, MG and Chery each outsold Isuzu Ute in the month to round out the top 10.

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Mining magnate Andrew Forrest’s Minderoo charity makes undisclosed donation to the Australia Institute

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Exclusive: The progressive thinktank, which has championed a ‘real zero’ emissions policy, says it protects privacy of donors to avoid them being targeted

Andrew Forrest’s charity has made an undisclosed donation to the Australia Institute, raising transparency concerns about the funding of influential advocacy groups.

The donation to the progressive thinktank, which has been confirmed by several sources familiar with the deal but not authorised to comment, highlights differing disclosure standards across the research and advocacy sector.

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There are just 150 of these creamy-flowered shrubs left in the world – and a Victorian fire break could destroy dozens

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More than 40 round-leaf pomaderris discovered by environmental community group inside the area earmarked for fire break in July

A mere 150 round-leaf pomaderris were thought left in the world in 2021 and now a planned firebreak in Victoria could destroy dozens of the plants.

The critically endangered shrub, which bursts into cascades of creamy flowers, is known to exist in only a handful of locations in central Victoria’s hill country.

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Up to 80,000 people in Australia may be affected by ‘sledgehammer’ powers to deport noncitizens to Nauru, lawyers warn

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Greens senator David Shoebridge accuses Tony Burke of ‘doing his Peter Dutton impression, dog-whistling and punching down on migrants’

Up to 80,000 people in Australia may be affected by the Albanese government’s proposed powers to strip basic legal protections from the noncitizens it plans to deport to Nauru, refugee lawyers warn.

The proposed federal powers, revealed last Wednesday, are expected to pass parliament this week with the Coalition’s support at a snap two-hour committee hearing scheduled for Wednesday night.

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Neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell arrested outside Melbourne court over alleged attack on Indigenous protest site

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Victoria police confirm arrest hours after the neo-Nazi confronted Victorian premier Jacinta Allan at a press conference

Neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell has been arrested outside a Melbourne court over an alleged attack on Camp Sovereignty, a sacred Aboriginal burial ground in Kings Domain and longstanding protest site on Sunday.

Victoria police have confirmed detectives from the Melbourne crime investigation unit arrested Sewell, 32, and two associates – a 23-year-old man from Mooroolbark and a 20-year-old man from Ardeer – outside Melbourne’s magistrates court about 3.20pm on Tuesday.

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Bob Katter distances himself from neo-Nazi group associated with megaphone at anti-immigration protest

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Separately, Greens call on Queensland MP to ‘apologise or resign’ for verbal altercation with Channel Nine reporter last week

The federal MP Bob Katter has distanced himself from a neo-Nazi group that claimed ownership of a megaphone he used at a Townsville rally against mass immigration, with the veteran politician claiming he has been the victim of “bullying” in the media.

The Greens have separately called on Katter, the member for Kennedy, to “apologise or resign” over his verbal altercation with a Channel Nine reporter last week, asking the Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission to investigate his conduct.

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Palestinian Australian brothers allege racist abuse on Sydney train

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Shamikh and Majed Badra said men shouted abuse at them, allegedly because Majed was wearing a keffiyeh

Two Palestinian Australian men say they were subjected to racist abuse on a Sydney train on the same day anti-immigration marches took place across Australian cities.

Film-makers Shamikh and Majed Badra told Guardian Australia they were verbally abused on a train on Sunday afternoon, allegedly because Majed was wearing a keffiyeh.

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Victorian Liberal members to push for regulated cannabis market at state council

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Proposal to treat cannabis similarly to alcohol among 62 policy motions on draft agenda, alongside increased parental leave and scrapping net zero

Rank-and-file Victorian Liberal party members will use this month’s state council meeting to push for a regulated cannabis market for adult use, overhaul heritage and planning laws to tackle the housing crisis and introduce a full year of parental leave with a “daddy quota”.

The motions are among 62 on the draft agenda for the Victorian Liberal state council – the party’s annual general meeting – on 12-13 September. Other motions include proposals to scrap net zero targets, renters’ rights reforms and diversity quotas.

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Under-16s ban: how hard will it be for Australian social media users to prove their age?

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The age assurance technology trial found errors are inevitable – meaning users might have to provide other ID or appeal against wrongful bans

It could take just 40 seconds: that’s how long Australians might have to wait for age assurance technology to assess they’re allowed to be on social media from December, when the under-16s ban comes into effect.

But the reality is, for many users, it could be a much more complicated and time-consuming process.

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Bristol returns cultural artefacts taken from Larrakia people in Australia

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Objects including three-metre spears were collected in late 19th and early 20th centuries and donated to city’s museum

For decades, they have languished in storage in the basement of a museum in the English West Country. Finally, an extraordinary collection of weapons and ceremonial objects taken from the Larrakia people more than a century ago is beginning a winding journey home to the saltwater landscapes of the Northern Territory in Australia.

During an emotionally charged ceremony, Bristol city council formally handed over 33 objects including spears that would have been used to hunt creatures from fish to buffalo, some still gleaming with the red ochre used to decorate them.

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Australia could be a ‘dumping ground’ for goods made for us with forced labour, anti-slavery tsar warns

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Exclusive: Chris Evans says ‘blind spots’ in modern slavery laws means few prosecutions occur and some companies are ‘taking the mickey’ in their approach to reporting

Australia’s modern slavery laws are among the weakest in the developed world and the country risks becoming a “dumping ground” for goods made with forced labour, Australia’s first anti-slavery commissioner has said.

In a wide-ranging interview with Guardian Australia, the commissioner, Chris Evans – a former Labor senator and minister – said there were “blind spots” in Australia’s efforts that risked the country becoming a global laggard.

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Thousands of Tesla SUVs recalled in Australia over software fault that ‘can increase risk of injury’

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All 2025 Tesla Model Y variants affected by issue that risks window closing on body parts ‘with excessive force’

More than 7,000 Tesla electric vehicles have been recalled in Australia due to a software fault that could injure drivers.

Australia’s federal transport department issued the recall over the weekend, warning that all 2025 variants of the Tesla Model Y were subject to an issue affecting the driver’s side automatic window and its safety system.

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Neo-Nazis attack Indigenous protest site after anti-immigration rally in Melbourne as officer allegedly assaulted in Sydney

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At least 50 men, mostly clad in black, approached Camp Sovereignty as sun was setting on Sunday. Four people were injured

A group of women in Melbourne have been injured, and a police officer in Sydney was allegedly assaulted, after anti-immigration marches across Australia on the weekend.

A group of men, including some members of neo-Nazi group the National Socialist Network, attacked the standing First Nations protest site, Camp Sovereignty, in Melbourne’s Kings Domain on Sunday evening, according to video footage seen by Guardian Australia.

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Magda Szubanski thanks young fan who dressed as Sharon Strzelecki for Book Week for cheering her up amid chemo

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‘I’m really touched,’ Kath & Kim favourite tells 10-year-old, adding that cancer treatment ‘is smacking me around right now’

Magda Szubanski has shared an update about her health from her hospital bed as she continues treatment for an aggressive form of blood cancer.

Szubanski, well-known for her roles in Kath & Kim and Babe, posted a video to Instagram on Sunday to thank a young fan who had “really cheered me up” with her Book Week costume of Szubanski’s Kath & Kim character, the hapless netball fan Sharon Strzelecki.

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