Category Archives: Australia news

One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts ‘in two minds’ about whether gay people should be equal

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Footage shows senator on stage at the Church and State conference responding to question about party’s director James Ashby

One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts told a conference earlier this year that he was in “two minds” about whether gay people should have equal rights.

In footage from June’s Church and State conference, released on Sunday, the senator can be seen responding to a question about James Ashby, the party’s director, who is gay.

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Woolworths’ Ooshies craze causes Coles sales slump with parents shopping at rival supermarket to collect toys

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Coles full-year results show that despite gaining market share over past 12 months, sales fell over four weeks of ‘competitor’s collectables campaign’

Woolworths’ latest Disney “Ooshie” collectibles have not only captivated Australian children, they have led to a short-term slump in competitor Coles’ sales.

The latest rubber figurine promotion was scheduled to end on Tuesday, but strong customer interest meant Woolworths prematurely ran out of Ooshies a week ago.

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Liberals criticise ‘unimpressive and underwhelming’ rail loop plan as Victorian premier pushes ahead after hinting at pause

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A day after suggesting other projects were more important to Victorians, Ben Carroll says train line will go ahead but at a slightly reduced cost

The Victorian opposition has described Ben Carroll’s plan to scale back new train stations along the Suburban Rail Loop to shave just over 5% off its total cost as “incredibly unimpressive and underwhelming”.

The premier on Tuesday announced changes to the scope of the first stage of the state’s largest-ever infrastructure project, known as SRL East – a 26km stretch of tunnels between Cheltenham and Box Hill – estimated to save $1bn. He also ordered an “independent, technical review” to identify a further $1bn in savings.

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Australia has just 12,000 sea lions left – and ‘carnage’ may await them as bird flu takes hold, scientists warn

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Virus has already caused catastrophic losses in pinnipeds in South America and sub-Antarctica, particularly among pups

Scientists have warned deadly H5 bird flu could cause “carnage” for Australia’s seal and sea lion populations after detection of the virus in long-nosed fur seals in South Australia.

SA confirmed Australia’s first case in a mammal on Saturday after a dead long-nosed fur seal found at Beachport on the Limestone Coast tested positive for H5N1.

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‘Staggering’: watchdog condemns police after Indigenous teenager on bus wrongfully arrested – then searched

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Ombudsman Iain Anderson says he is concerned police ‘had no clearly understood definition of racial profiling’

The commonwealth and ACT ombudsman has criticised the Australian federal police for failing to clearly define “racial profiling” after police in Canberra pulled guns on an Indigenous teenager who they mistook for a suspect in an aggravated burglary.

The scathing investigation, released on Tuesday, made eight recommendations to the Australian federal police (AFP) and ACT Policing after investigating the November 2025 incident. ACT Policing sits under the AFP as the community policing arm.

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Two men charged and drugs, guns and cars linked to CFMEU seized as police investigate alleged corruption

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Police arrest five men and search six properties including the union’s Victorian headquarters

Two men have been charged and Victorian police have seized drugs, guns and cars linked to the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU) as part of an investigation into alleged corruption in the building industry.

On Monday, detectives from Taskforce Hawk arrested five men and searched six properties including the Victorian headquarters of the union, saying they were investigating secret commissions, fraud and drug trafficking.

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Australia’s marine parks protect ‘places no one goes’ rather than fragile waters near the mainland, scientists say

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Hundreds of experts write to environment minister calling for stronger protections for ‘unique and distinct’ marine ecosystems

The Australian government has been accused of leaving waters near the mainland largely unprotected by establishing the bulk of highly protected marine parks in remote areas.

More than 270 leading marine scientists from 84 research institutes have written to the environment minister, Murray Watt, urging stronger protections for marine ecosystems, as a once-in-a-decade review of marine parks gets under way.

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Australia’s first home buyers are still taking out loans as property investors step back, data shows

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Exclusive: New entrants the only cohort making more loan applications amid interest rate rises and tax changes, mortgage broker says

First home buyers are still taking out a large number of loans, with government backing, even as investors step back from Australia’s property market.

New entrants are now the only cohort applying for more loans than they were in June, according to new data from the mortgage broker network Loan Market.

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Swans fans turn up to support women’s team – as it happened

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Victorian Labor expands on free dental care election promise

The Victorian premier, Ben Carroll, and health minister, Ingrid Stitt, have held a press conference this morning off the back of their announcement yesterday that the Labor government would open 10 free public dental clinics if re-elected in November.

You can’t use a Medicare card for dental unless you’ve got a healthcare card or you are a category of a particular citizen, it is very difficult … I’ve been visiting a lot of dentists over the past few weeks. There [are] waiting lists. People are in enormous, unbearable pain.

This will be a cost of living measure but it will also make sure that we deal with the healthcare of some of the most vulnerable Victorians. This is really going to fill the gap that’s been there for decades.

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Liberal plan to split Victorian appeals court attacked as ‘thought bubble’ that would politicise judiciary

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Opposition leader Jess Wilson says new dedicated court of criminal appeal would set precedents for tougher sentences

A radical overhaul of Victoria’s highest court, proposed by the Liberal party to increase sentences, has been criticised by legal and human rights groups who warn it would politicise the judiciary.

The opposition leader, Jess Wilson, on Sunday announced that if elected in November the Coalition would split the court of appeal in two, creating a dedicated court of criminal appeal alongside a separate court of civil appeal.

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Hanson forced to intervene after One Nation MP says party’s migration target ‘not too different’ from Labor’s

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David Farley says party wants 100,000 migrant rural workers in addition to the 130,000 migration target it considers the ‘true’ number

The One Nation MP David Farley says the minor party’s net migration target is “not too different” to Labor’s, forcing his leader to issue an urgent clarification amid rising confusion over the policy.

It is the second time Pauline Hanson has had to issue a correction after the member for Farrer seemed to contradict One Nation’s restrictive approach to immigration.

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Sydney Marathon admits ‘unfortunate error’ as finisher’s medal depicts Munich stadium as race highlight

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‘Landmarks’ side of the medal features the Allianz Arena in German city rather than Allianz Stadium in Sydney

In a week’s time, the proud runners finishing the Sydney Marathon will receive a medal showing the landmarks they have just sped past – plus one they definitely didn’t.

In what organisers have admitted was an “unfortunate error”, a stadium in Munich, Germany, was erroneously etched on to the event’s participation medal instead of a local Sydney landmark.

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Victorian Labor promises free dental care if re-elected in Australia-first move

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Premier Ben Carroll says $230m would be earmarked for 10 public dental clinics to operate on a walk-in basis

Victorians would be able to walk into a dental clinic and receive free checkups and treatment under an Australian-first proposal the Labor government will take to the November state election.

The premier, Ben Carroll, will announce the plan – Labor’s first major election commitment – at a rally on Saturday to mark fewer than 100 days until Victorians go to the polls.

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‘Shameful’: UK, Australia and Canada criticise Israel over Gaza aid convoy killings decision

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Joint statement issued after IDF said it will not pursue criminal investigations into April 2024 strike that killed seven humanitarian workers

Britain, Australia and Canada have called the decision of the Israeli military authorities not to open a criminal investigation into the April 2024 airstrikes that hit a convoy of aid vehicles in Gaza “shameful”. The strikes killed seven humanitarian workers from the US-based World Central Kitchen (WCK) organisation.

WCK staff from the three countries were among the casualties of the attack, which prompted global outrage.

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NSW ‘seeking urgent advice’ on controversial court ruling that found anti-Israel vandalism was not antisemitic

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Exclusive: Attorney general considering appeal after justice Desmond Fagan knocks back terror order request for Mohommed Farhat who wrote ‘Fuk Israel’ on cars

The New South Wales government could appeal a supreme court judge’s controversial decision to refuse its request for a terror order over a Sydney man convicted of writing “Fuk Israel” on cars and setting another vehicle alight in late 2024.

Justice Desmond Fagan this week found disparaging Israel was “political comment” not antisemitism. He rejected the state’s application that Mohommed Farhat be subjected to a one-year extended supervision order under the Terrorism Act when released from prison.

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Cults, setups and rumours: years after their downfalls, former NSW Liberal MPs are exacting revenge

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David Elliott and Eleni Petinos believe they were brought down by their own party. The Icac hearing has given them a chance to set the record straight

Revenge, they say, is a dish best served cold.

It’s been almost four years since the former New South Wales MP, David Elliott, announced that he would not seek preselection for a seat in the Hills in greater Sydney after his own seat was abolished. He had realised that, thanks to branch stacking in his area, he stood no chance of securing another.

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Former Liberal MP condemns Coalition for backing gambling reforms that ‘let down’ vulnerable Australians

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Jenny Ware, member of inquiry that recommended wagering advertising ban, says ‘public health crisis’ demands stronger response from major parties

The former Liberal MP Jenny Ware has condemned her one-time Coalition colleagues for backing Labor’s gambling legislation, claiming “vulnerable Australians have been let down”, as the parliament failed to back a full ban on wagering ads.

Ware, a member of the Peta Murphy-led inquiry in 2023 that recommended entirely ending wagering advertising and inducements, called gambling a public health crisis that demanded a much stronger response from both sides of politics.

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‘You have got to go’: former NSW minister tells Icac ‘something strange at play’ when she was sacked by Perrottet

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Eleni Petinos tells inquiry her sacking as a minister in Dominic Perrottet’s government was potentially motivated by her reluctance to get rid of the building commissioner

The former New South Wales fair trading minister Eleni Petinos has given evidence at a corruption inquiry that she may have been used by fellow Liberals to try to get rid of the building commissioner David Chandler, recounting numerous attempts in 2022 to persuade her he was “dodgy” and should be sacked.

She has also told the Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) inquiry that her subsequent sacking as a minister in the Dominic Perrottet government in July 2022 – allegedly for bullying staff – was unfair and potentially motivated by her reluctance to sack the building commissioner.

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From ‘elation’ to ‘terrible news’ in 10 minutes: how the confusion over missing bushwalker Lily Hooper unfolded

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The 18-year-old’s body was found in Nattai national park on Thursday – but initial police messages indicated she was alive

Police have blamed dense bushland and radio confusion for wrongly reporting to 18-year-old Lily Hooper’s parents, the New South Wales premier and the media that the missing bushwalker had been found alive.

Hooper had last been seen on 12 August after leaving home for a hike in the rugged bushland of Nattai national park, 90km south-west of Sydney. She was reported missing that night, triggering a multi-agency search involving nearly 1,000 people, including hundreds of volunteers.

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Drug-dealing, makeshift weapons and a ‘culture of fear’ at Villawood detention centre, report warns

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Prolonged detention of children, insufficient staffing and hazardous damage to buildings are among the ombudsman’s concerns

Drugs are being openly dealt inside Villawood detention centre; makeshift weapons are being manufactured amid intimidation, standover tactics and a “culture of fear”; people are sleeping outside under CCTV cameras for their own safety; and children are being kept from going to school, a scathing report from the independent monitor has found.

The commonwealth’s National Preventive Mechanism issued the report based on a three-day visit in March this year. A total of 428 people were held in Villawood at the time, including children. Some 78 beds were offline because of damage still not repaired from a fire three years ago.

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