Category Archives: Australia news

Mortgage repayments are now cheaper than rent in some Australian suburbs. Is yours among them?

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As house prices plateau, the gap between the cost of buying and renting is narrowing in dozens of suburbs

High rents and falling property prices have opened a rare window for Australian tenants to become homeowners, with mortgage repayments cheaper than rent in dozens of suburbs.

Guardian Australia’s analysis of Cotality data shows that median rents in inner-city Melbourne, suburban Canberra and Darwin are now nearly matching weekly home loan repayments.

In one in 10 suburbs and towns across the country, repayments are less than $200 a week higher than rent, for the typical property. In some suburbs, they are actually cheaper.

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Greens leader denies knowledge of ‘secret dossier’ on how to handle Jordon Steele-John misconduct allegations

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David Shoebridge says 47-page document not ‘made by, used by, or seen by’ his office as matter referred to parliamentary standards commission

Greens leader David Shoebridge has denied knowledge of the existence of an alleged crisis management document on how to deal with allegations against Jordon Steele-John being made public.

The Nine newspapers reported on Friday afternoon the existence of a “secret dossier”, first drafted in 2016, which contained misconduct allegations against the Western Australian Greens senator and how to suppress their media coverage.

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Elizabeth Struhs’ child protection case not ‘prioritised’ due to high workload, inquest hears

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Eight-year-old Queensland girl died in 2022 after being denied insulin by her religious parents

Elizabeth Struhs’ child protection case was not “prioritised” or worked intensively because the staff member assigned to her case was “very busy”, a coroner has heard.

The Queensland coroner’s court also heard the case worker may have been “overly influenced” by the presentation of Struhs’ “upper class home”, putting cases believed to involve a more immediate risk ahead of Elizabeth’s.

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One Nation proposes $2,000 baby subsidy in Victoria but says it won’t touch state abortion laws

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Announcement comes a day after Liberal and Labor parties say they will cover out-of-pocket costs for abortion care

One Nation has proposed a $2,000 baby bonus for new parents in Victoria – a day after the Labor and Liberal parties both agreed to cover out-of-pocket costs for abortion care.

The deputy leader of One Nation in Victoria, Colleen Harkin, announced the plan on Friday to remove out-of-pocket costs for pregnant women in the public healthcare system and a $2,000 subsidy for those accessing private maternity care.

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‘It’s about the underdog’: Ben Roberts-Smith launches brand to support family amid legal battle

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Accused war criminal announces venture with video on Instagram of him walking along beach and working out

Accused war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith has launched a brand, saying he needs the income to support his family and fund his legal expenses after being charged with murdering or ordering the murders of five unarmed detainees while deployed in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012.

Roberts-Smith launched the label with a video on Instagram of him walking along a beach on the Gold Coast and working out, soundtracked by media reports about him being awarded the Victoria Cross and his subsequent arrest. The video included the caption: “Get ready….the time has come. #neveroutofthefight #underdog”.

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Queensland’s LNP has trodden softly in government. It’s now baring its teeth over the power to break up workers’ strikes

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The controversial legislation may end up placing large sections of its suburban support – critical to the party’s lead in the polls – on the bonfire

For almost two years, the Liberal National party’s strategy for government in Queensland has been to stay well clear of issues that risk burning through political capital.

On Wednesday, one of the most tentative conservative governments in recent history announced plans for sweeping and controversial changes to workplace laws.

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Woman charged after allegedly poisoning colleague’s curry lunch with snail pellets

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Western Australian police say woman ‘experienced numbness to her tongue’ after tasting the curry at her workplace in Perth

A woman has been charged after allegedly poisoning a co-worker’s lunch curry with snail pellets.

Western Australian police say a 58-year-old woman brought a container of curry to share with colleagues at her workplace in Perth’s southern suburbs in February.

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ADF member ‘person of interest’ after video recorder found in HMAS Leeuwin women’s showers

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Vice Adm Buckley calls incident an ‘act of sexual violence’ and a ‘despicable betrayal of trust’

The defence department says a member of the Australian Defence Force is a “person of interest” in investigations after a video recording device was found in a bathroom on HMAS Leeuwin, in what the chief of navy called a “despicable betrayal of trust”.

A day after senator Jacqui Lambie told the Senate that a hidden camera had been found in a female shower facility onboard the naval ship, docked in Cairns, navy chief Matt Buckley confirmed a “video recording device” had been located in one of the ship’s bathrooms.

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‘Manosphere’ podcasts and moon-landing conspiracy theories to remain online under new laws, Wells says

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Communications minister rebuts claims that Labor’s digital duty of care laws would lead to government control of speech

Australians could still “listen to manosphere podcasts” or “say the moon landing was fake” under proposed new online safety laws, Anika Wells has stressed as she rubbished claims they would lead to government censorship

The communications minister also said she was considering updates to the digital duty of care laws to allow individual Australians to directly sue big tech companies flouting the new rules. This has been a key demand from the Greens for their support for the laws, while the Coalition accuses Labor of plans to “secretly control Australian speech”.

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Victoria to become first state to make abortions free as Coalition matches Labor election promise

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Exclusive: Out-of-pocket costs for abortion care to be covered regardless of who wins November election as Jess Wilson says Liberals and Nationals ‘will not allow Labor to play politics on this issue’

Victoria will become the first state in Australia to make access to abortion care free, no matter who wins the November election, with the Coalition matching Labor’s promise just hours after it was announced as it attempts to neutralise the issue.

The opposition leader, Jess Wilson, on Thursday afternoon told Guardian Australia a Liberal National Coalition government would match Labor’s commitment to cover out-of-pocket costs for abortion care up to 16 weeks’ gestation. This would include GP and specialist consultations, scans, tests or medication, which can quickly add up to more than $1,000.

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Greens senator Jordon Steele-John takes leave amid investigation into complaints

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Steele-John said he rejected the claims and had referred them to the Western Australian Greens for a ‘fair, independent process’

Greens senator Jordon Steele-John has taken leave from the party room after complaints were made, triggering an independent review.

The Nine newspapers reported on Thursday afternoon that seven party members demanded an investigation into allegations he made inappropriate comments to a number of women between 2017 and 2025.

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Child safety officer incorrectly assessed Elizabeth Struhs as ‘safe’ day after she was admitted to hospital in coma

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Inquest into death of eight-year-old Queensland girl who was denied insulin by her religious parents told her case was complex

A child safety officer incorrectly assessed Elizabeth Struhs as “safe” one day after she arrived at hospital in a coma and nearly died due to the neglect of her parents, a coroner’s court has heard.

A Queensland coronial inquest heard evidence on Wednesday from one of the two child safety officers who ultimately decided to return the then six-year-old, who had type 1 diabetes, to the care of her parents at their home in Toowoomba.

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Video recording device found in cabin of HMAS Leeuwin navy ship in Cairns

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Defence announcement comes after Jacqui Lambie tells parliament a camera had been found concealed in a women’s shower on board

A “video recording device” was found in the cabin of a Royal Australian Navy ship in Cairns, the defence department has revealed, just hours after senator Jacqui Lambie alleged in parliament that a camera had been found concealed in a women’s shower on the vessel.

The department confirmed on Wednesday afternoon that a device had been found aboard the HMAS Leeuwin three days earlier. In a statement after Guardian Australia had contacted the department for response to Lambie’s allegations, a spokesperson said police were investigating, but did not reveal further details about where the device was located.

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Australian industry reliant on gas for ‘foreseeable future’, resources minister tells press club

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Madeleine King says national gas reservation scheme, expected to come into effect from 2028, will reduce power prices

The resources minister, Madeleine King, says Australian industry will be reliant on gas for the “foreseeable future”, and that the national gas reservation scheme will push down power prices.

But the Western Australian MP did not put a price tag on the cost of gas under the proposal – as the former opposition leader Peter Dutton once did – nor predict when households and businesses would start to see that financial relief.

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Court overturns Tanya Plibersek’s protection order which stalled controversial NSW goldmine

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Federal court overrules decision by former environment minister for the McPhillamys goldmine development at Blayney

The federal court has overturned a rare protection order issued by former environment minister Tanya Plibersek under Indigenous heritage legislation, which the company said effectively blocked a controversial goldmine in the central west of New South Wales.

Regis Resources challenged the decision by the former minister to issue the order in 2024 under section 10 of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act.

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Rachel Smith will turn 39 in prison. The high court says she could freeze her eggs from behind bars

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Australia’s highest court says Queensland drug trafficker extracting and storing eggs is not ‘assisted reproductive technology’

A 36-year-old woman has won an appeal in Australia’s highest court about her right to freeze her eggs while behind bars.

Rachel Smith is serving a 10-year prison term in Queensland for trafficking in a dangerous drug.

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Anne Aly reveals she has received 19 death threats in the last week alone

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After an opposition MP says she should be ‘shamed and stoned’, the federal minister hits back at ‘racist and misogynistic’ language

Anne Aly has condemned as “racist” and “misogynistic” comments in parliament calling for her to be “stoned in the square” – while revealing she has received 19 death threats in the last week alone.

The Gold Coast Liberal National MP Angie Bell, the member for Moncrieff, told the House of Representatives that Aly, the small business minister, and the prime minister should be “shamed and stoned in the square” over a decision made by the tax office.

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Child safety staff determined to send Elizabeth Struhs home with parents despite doctors’ concerns, inquest hears

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Queensland coronial inquest into death of eight-year-old girl continues after 14 members of religious sect were convicted of her manslaughter

It was impossible to change the mind of child safety staff after they had decided to send Elizabeth Struhs home with her parents despite some of her doctors’ concerns, a police officer has told a coronial inquest into the young girl’s death.

Child safety staff decided in 2019 that it would be “more detrimental” to not return Elizabeth, aged six at the time, to her Toowoomba home upon her discharge from hospital after suffering a coma due to diabetic ketoacidosis, a Queensland coroner heard.

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The return of the prodigal son? Why speculation is rising over Josh Frydenberg’s future

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The spectre of a leadership alternative is hardly helpful for Angus Taylor. But would Frydenberg do a better job?

A reasonable query for Liberals at this point is: if Josh Frydenberg is the answer, what is the question?

There was a whiff of weariness in some corners of parliament this week, as the former treasurer and deputy Liberal leader happily stoked another round of “Josh for Canberra” speculation. With more rumoured comebacks than Oasis, Frydenberg’s latest foray into the national political arena saw him bouncing around TV, radio and podcast interviews to promote his new book, and pointedly refuse to rule out trying to rejoin the parliament.

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Man and woman charged after baby boy found dead in Adelaide motel

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South Australia police say infant was aged between six and seven months old and had been ‘deceased for a period of time’

A man and a woman have been charged after a baby boy was found dead in a motel.

Benjamin Nicholas Houghton, 40, and Yue Ning Lieu, 42, are in custody after police discovered the child during a welfare check at a Glen Osmond motel in Adelaide’s south on Saturday.

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