Turkey-Syria earthquake: Melbourne man confirmed dead as Australian toll believed to have risen to three

Remains of Australian man and Australian woman identified by family members in Turkey, according to Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Three Australians are believed to have died in the devastating earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria, which has killed more than 23,000 people.

The remains of an Australian man and an Australian woman have been identified by family members in Turkey, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

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Kylie, Ultra Violet, Kim Petras: WorldPride festival has ‘something for everyone’, CEO says

Sydney is gearing up for a massive, global party — but it’s also an important reminder of the work still to be done on LGBTQ+ rights

Sydney’s WorldPride will have something for everyone, organisers say, as the city gears up for 17 days of festivities surrounding the 45th anniversary of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

The festival – which will include more than 300 events – kicks off on Friday, and will end with an expected 50,000 people walking across the Sydney Harbour Bridge on Sunday 5 March.

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Australian intelligence agency advised departmental discretion on using Chinese equipment 14 months ago

Government’s new commitment to remove devices made by Hikvision and Dahua from buildings sweeps 2021 advice aside

An Australian intelligence agency declared a year ago it was up to government departments whether to use equipment from Chinese companies Hikvision and Dahua, despite a new bipartisan push to remove such devices.

The advice from the Australian Signals Directorate was published in late 2021, at a time when the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, was defence minister.

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NSW Labor pledges to improve ageing regional trains after ‘botched’ rollout of new fleet

Opposition says it will step into vacuum left by NSW government’s lack of interim solutions to improve experience for passengers

Labor has promised to improve the ageing trains that run from Sydney to Melbourne and Brisbane if it wins the New South Wales election, as the Coalition’s delayed replacement fleet leaves passengers in carriages without phone reception for most of this decade.

The pledge follows revelations from an advisory report that the NSW government’s contract for new regional trains is set to blow out by more than $1bn, with the first of the rolling stock that was meant to enter service this January now delayed to as late as December 2025.

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Woman who defaced Frederick McCubbin painting in Woodside protest fined $2,637

Joana Partyka admitted painting company logo on to the masterpiece Down on His Luck in protest at Burrup Peninsula development

A woman who defaced one of Australia’s most famous paintings in a protest against a gas company’s alleged destruction of Western Australia rock art has faced court.

Joana Veronika Partyka, 37, pleaded guilty on Friday to criminal damage after she spray-painted a Woodside Energy logo onto Frederick McCubbin’s work Down on His Luck at the Art Gallery of WA.

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ACT government provides $4.3m for inquiry into handling of Bruce Lehrmann case

The inquiry to be headed by Walter Sofronoff will hold as many hearings in public as possible

The inquiry into the handling of the Bruce Lehrmann case has been handed $4.3m to conduct its work and has signalled it will hold as much of its hearings in public as possible.

The inquiry head, former judge Walter Sofronoff KC, will also be supported by the Queensland silk Erin Longbottom KC and barrister Joshua Jones as senior and junior counsel assisting.

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Australian TV broadcasters claim more gambling ad restrictions could cut free sport coverage

Free TV Australia has rejected calls for further restrictions, telling inquiry the current regime is poorly understood by the community

The peak body for free-to-air commercial broadcasters has strongly rejected calls for further restrictions on gambling advertisements, warning free coverage of sport may be cut as a result.

Free TV Australia has argued the extent of wagering advertisements on television has been grossly exaggerated by some anti-gambling advocates and the current restrictions are poorly understood by the community.

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Inquiry into ‘private urination matter’ at pesticides regulator uncovers additional misconduct allegations

Agriculture minister has referred serious allegations of misconduct at the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority to police

Police have been called in to investigate the government’s pesticides regulator after a review of its work culture found further allegations of misconduct.

An independent investigation was launched in November into the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) after a Senate committee heard allegations that a senior public servant urinated on his colleagues.

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‘Disgraceful and gutless’: Queensland deputy premier pilloried for attack on judiciary

Steven Miles said a magistrate’s decision to release children locked in Townsville watch house was ‘a media stunt’

Queensland’s deputy premier, Steven Miles, has been accused of engaging in a “disgraceful” breach of the separation of powers for claiming the safety of residents was being “held to ransom by rogue courts and rogue justices”.

At a press conference on Friday, Miles said a decision by a Townsville magistrate to release several children being held on remand in the local watch house was a “media stunt”, prompting fierce pushback from civil liberties veteran Terry O’Gorman.

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Australian missing in Turkey found alive but two still unaccounted for – as it happened

Ley denies opposition is a ‘no-alition’

Karvelas:

The prime minister use the word ‘no-alition’ to describe your political strategy this week – the reconstruction fund and your opposition to that, which was revealed this week. Is this opposition going to take the Tony Abbott approach, and just oppose everything?

Not at all. We just want the government to deliver on their promises. And we’re not giving them blank checks on the national reconstruction fund, either, because it’s $15bn. They haven’t explained how it will benefit our manufacturing sector with the imperatives right now that the industry sector needs.

The IMF has warned against these off-budget vehicles as $45bn of them in the government’s plan. And it’s not a plan for the economy as it is now. It’s not a plan for rising costs of living, for rising inflation. It’s not a plan that even makes the government’s own promises. So we’re just saying just deliver on your promises, prime minister.

Julian Leeser asked a perfectly sensible question in question time yesterday, which was about which part of the Calma-Langton report would you adopt? … It was a basic question about detail. The prime minister just didn’t even answer one single part of it.

But you could be part of the process. The prime minister is saying be part of the process.

We are part of the process … but if the prime minister can’t answer a simple question that wasn’t the least bit political, it was asked in a very flat, factual manner in parliament. And if he answered that in a political way, what that tells me [is] he’s politicising the debate. But I agree, I don’t want to see this politicised.

We don’t really have any guardrails around a final outcome with detail that lands exactly where we want it to, which is in the health and welfare of Indigenous Australians. … the prime minister has tied that to the concept of the voice but he can’t explain it. So until he provides the details, I believe it’s actually the Labor party that is putting reconciliation at risk.

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Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle intensifies on path to Norfolk Island and New Zealand

Weather system off the Queensland coast predicted to intensify to category three, with winds of up to 224km/h

Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle is expected to strengthen to category three as it barrels towards Norfolk Island, in line to pummel New Zealand’s North Island.

The system is predicted to intensify to category three on Friday morning, picking up speed and strength with winds of between 165km/h and 224km/h, the Bureau of Meteorology says.

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‘Crazy interesting’ findings by Australian researchers may reveal key to Covid immunity

University of Sydney scientists have found a receptor protein which ‘acts a bit like molecular velcro, in that it sticks to the spike of the virus’

Australian researchers have found a protein in the lungs that sticks to the Covid-19 virus like velcro and immobilises it, which may explain why some people never become sick with the virus while others suffer serious illness.

The research was led by Greg Neely, a professor of functional genomics with the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre in collaboration with Dr Lipin Loo, a postdoctoral researcher and Matthew Waller, a PhD student. Their findings were published in the journal PLOS Biology on Friday.

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Email reveals top bureaucrat pressed ombudsman to delete comments questioning robodebt’s legality

Correspondence published by inquiry show then Human Services head told federal watchdog she was concerned about comments due to an ongoing court hearing and wanted them removed

The former head of the Department of Human Services pressured the commonwealth ombudsman to delete language questioning the legality of the robodebt scheme from a key report, according to emails published by a royal commission.

The commission is investigating why the former Coalition government’s unlawful welfare debt recovery scheme was established in 2015 and ran until November 2019, ending in a $1.8bn settlement with hundreds of thousands of victims.

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Reserve Bank causing households ‘too much pain’ with rate rises, says union chief Sally McManus

Australian union leader says the absence of labour market expertise on the RBA board had caused ‘missteps’

The head of Australia’s union movement has blasted the Reserve Bank and its governor for a lack of “understanding” that rate rises are causing “too much pain” and low income earners have exhausted savings.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary, Sally McManus, made the comments on Thursday after a ninth interest rate hike – and suggestions more increases will follow – sparked fears monetary policy could be tightened too far, risking recession.

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Victorian government must overhaul bail laws to create ‘meaningful’ change, legal groups say

Advocates concerned after Daniel Andrews suggested looking at offence types rather than scrapping controversial 2018 changes

Changes to Victoria’s bail laws would be nothing more than cosmetic if the government does not scrap the “reverse onus” bail provisions that have led to a near doubling of Aboriginal women in custody, legal groups have warned.

The Victorian government has committed to reforming the Bail Act after a damning coroner’s report into the death in custody of Veronica Nelson found it was “incompatible” with the state’s charter of human rights and discriminatory towards First Nations people.

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Social media campaign linked to Chinese government spreading disinformation about Australian politics, thinktank says

Posts amplify content about sexual assault and misconduct allegations in Parliament House to undermine trust in political system, researchers say

A coordinated foreign influence campaign linked to the Chinese government is using social media to undermine confidence in Australia’s democratic system, according to researchers at a Canberra-based defence thinktank.

The researchers believe the network is operating from within China and is either spreading disinformation about Australian politics or amplifying concerns about political scandals. They reference rape allegations made by the former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins and against the former attorney general Christian Porter, which he strongly denies.

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Angus Taylor behind decision to delay energy price rise report until after 2022 election

Exclusive: Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has revealed Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg also knew of the decision

The former energy minister Angus Taylor asked his department to consider delaying telling voters about electricity price rises before the May election, then made the decision to do so.

Taylor told media in October that he didn’t know about incoming price rises and that he didn’t see the Australian Energy Regulator’s report proposing to increase the default market offer. In May last year, a spokesperson for Taylor rejected claims the delay was for political reasons.

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Australia news live: crossbench ramps up pressure on Michelle Rowland after reports of Sportsbet donations

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Why are we not just saying yes?

Richard Marles:

We need to balance this, obviously, as all countries to do with our own capability and making sure that we maintain our own ability to operate in our own sphere here in the Indo-Pacific.

But we need to be doing what we can to support Ukraine and we’ll continue to take that through and as we have and right now, we stand as one of the largest non-Nato contributors to Ukraine.

This is going to be an open question going on. I think the the answer to it is we will continue a discussion with the Ukraine for as long as it takes to make sure that they can stay in the contest.

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Australia and New Zealand best placed to survive nuclear apocalypse, study finds

Researchers say food and energy security boosts prospects for civilisation to continue, along with Vanuatu, Iceland and Solomon Islands

The lucky country can count on one more piece of good fortune, with researchers finding Australia – followed by neighbour New Zealand – best placed to survive a nuclear winter and help reboot a collapsed human civilisation.

The study published in the journal Risk Analysis describes Australia, New Zealand, Iceland, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu as the island countries most capable of producing enough food for their populations after an “abrupt sunlight‐reducing catastrophe” such as a nuclear war, super volcano or asteroid strike.

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Sydney man confirmed dead in Turkey after devastating earthquakes

Can Pahali’s body was found among the rubble after members of his family flew to Turkey from Australia to help search for him

A Sydney man has died in Turkey after devastating earthquakes in the country, making him the first confirmed Australian death in the disaster.

Can Pahali’s body was found among the rubble after members of his family flew to Turkey from Australia to help search for him, Australian Associated Press reported. Pahali’s nephew, Ilyas Pahali, told the Guardian he was heading to the Turkish capital, Ankara, to “try and dig out his body”.

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