Category Archives: Australia news

Jobs and retail sales hold up in resilient Australian economy despite 2023 growth fears

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Consumer prices rose 7.3% in the year to November, boosting the chances of another RBA interest rate rise in February

Australia’s economy was resilient towards the end of last year, with job vacancies and retail sales holding up, even as the World Bank joined other agencies to slash the outlook for growth in 2023.

Data for November, released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Wednesday, showed consumer price inflation picked up in the month while the number of firms advertising for staff increased and consumers set fresh records for retail spending.

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Cardinal George Pell divides opinion in death as in life

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Conservative politicians remember Pell as a ‘saint’ and a ‘martyr’, while others prefer to acknowledge victims of child sexual abuse in the Catholic church

The death of Cardinal George Pell has prompted dramatically polarised reactions, with church officials praising his service while others shared messages of support for victims of sexual abuse in the Catholic church.

The former prime minister Tony Abbott called Pell “a saint for our times”, saying in a statement the cardinal’s overturned convictions on charges of child sex abuse was “a modern form of crucifixion … a kind of living death”.

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Travel between China and Australia tipped to rebound rapidly as Chinese airlines ramp up flights

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Industry hopes China’s reopening might bring wider benefits for travellers with more airfare price competition

Chinese airlines are ramping up flights to Australia as Covid restrictions ease, boosting the prospects for a rapid rebound in travel between the two nations.

Airports said the market was dynamic with carriers large and small restarting routes dormant during the pandemic years, with more flights likely to be added as demand picks up.

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Abandoned Sydney to Hobart yacht salvaged from Tasmanian beach will be restored, owners say

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The 40-foot yacht had been left to drift at sea after its rudder snapped and crew were rescued by water police

The owners of a Sydney to Hobart yacht salvaged from a remote Tasmanian island after it was abandoned during the race have vowed to restore the vessel.

Huntress was recovered from Christmas Beach on Cape Barren Island in Bass Strait on Sunday, 11 days after it ran into trouble.

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Kimberley floods may have left hundreds homeless in region with longstanding housing crisis

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An estimated 100 homes are feared uninhabitable in WA communities where it’s not uncommon to have up to 20 people living in a house

Massive flooding in Western Australia may have left hundreds of people homeless, bringing the region’s pre-existing overcrowding crisis into sharp relief, local residents say.

An estimated 100 homes across the Kimberley were feared uninhabitable in the wake of ex-tropical cyclone Ellie, according to Tyronne Garstone, the chief executive of Kimberley Land Council, the peak Indigenous body in the Kimberley region. And with many people in the area living in multigenerational homes or with extended family, the extent of potential homelessness is immense, he said.

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China raises Australia’s hopes over detained pair and trade disputes amid thaw in relations

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Chinese envoy in Canberra largely positive about enhancing ties between countries while stepping up criticism of Aukus security deal

China’s ambassador to Australia has offered a glimmer of hope about the cases of two Australians detained in China, saying he wants a “solution” to be found as quickly as possible as Canberra continues to push for their release.

Xiao Qian also revealed that Chinese and Australian officials were in talks in Geneva about resolving their trade disputes, and he held open the possibility of resuming two-way talks about human rights.

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Common antibiotics scarce as medicine shortage in Australia worsens

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Pharmacists are having to convert tablets into liquid alternatives needed for small children

Australian medical groups and pharmacists have warned that a national shortage of medicines including common antibiotics is getting worse, with some pharmacists having to convert tablets into liquid alternatives for children.

Some doctors are now urging the federal government to invest in the development of domestic manufacturing as a long-term solution to overcome global supply chain challenges.

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Myki cards to make way for phones on Victoria’s public transport system, Daniel Andrews says

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Premier says he believes best practice allows for passengers to use their own ‘handheld devices’

Victorians will be able to use their phones to touch on to Melbourne’s trains, trams and buses when the state’s public transport ticketing system is replaced later this year, the premier has confirmed.

Daniel Andrews told reporters in Epping, in Melbourne’s north, on Tuesday that the tender process was currently under way for an operator that would ensure public transport users benefited from the latest technology.

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Australia’s big polluters must cut emissions by nearly 5% a year, but can use offsets to get there

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Plan that is key to Albanese government’s 2030 target will focus on emissions intensity to encourage cleaner practices rather than cutting production

Australia’s big polluting sites will have to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 5% a year but will face no limits on the use of carbon offsets under the Albanese government’s plan to deal with industrial emitters.

The climate change minister, Chris Bowen, on Tuesday released the government’s plan to revamp the safeguard mechanism, a Coalition policy that was promised to limit emissions from more than 200 industrial facilities, but in practice has failed.

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Man sentenced to six years’ jail over hours-long torture of woman in Brisbane hotel room

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Trent Wayne Lawson, 38, pleaded guilty to common assault, wilful damage, stealing and torture for 2021 attack and can apply for parole

A Queensland man has been sentenced for the “reprehensible” assault and torture of a woman for at least two hours while he held her captive in a hotel room.

Trent Wayne Lawson, 38, faced Brisbane district court on Tuesday for sentencing after pleading guilty to common assault, wilful damage, stealing and torture.

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Concerns over use of ‘cheap and easy’ offsets – as it happened

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More than 80% of council areas declared disasters in the past four years, Watt says

Murray Watt was hesitant to attribute the individual disaster in the Kimberley to climate change, unlike his colleague Chris Bowen. But he said the overall pattern of increasing disasters was “undoubtedly climate change”:

I don’t think that you can point to one particular event and say it’s due to climate change, but there is no doubt that we are seeing before our eyes is climate change happening. We know from all the scientists that we’re going to be facing more of these intense events more frequently.

I was actually advised yesterday by our agency that just in the last 12 months we’ve seen 316 of Australia’s 537 council areas disaster-declared: that’s about 60% of the council areas in the country. And if you go back four years to the black summer, 438 council areas in Australia have been disaster-declared, which is over 80%.

A lot of people aren’t aware but the wet season in northern Western Australia … generally doesn’t begin until later this month. So their wettest months actually tend to be February and March rather than starting as early as January. So to have this amount of water come through the system this early in the wet season is a concern.

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Two drivers hit with nails allegedly shot from passing truck on NSW highway

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Nineteen-year-old man charged after drivers on M1 at Ourimbah and Somersby reported nail gun shots from white Mitsubishi

Two drivers have been hit with nails shot from a passing truck on a New South Wales highway, police say.

One man, 52, was heading north on the M1 near Ourimbah on Monday afternoon when he felt something hit his head, causing him to lose control of his car briefly.

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Engineers to assess flood-damaged bridges on key WA route amid concerns some could take years to fix

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Fitzroy River Bridge among those apparently collapsed after record flooding in state’s north destroys roads and isolates communities

Engineers will assess the destruction of major bridges on the trucking route connecting Western Australia and the Northern Territory on Wednesday amid concerns key infrastructure could could take months, or even years, to fix.

Main Roads WA and structural engineers will assess the Fitzroy River Bridge on the Great Northern Highway, as photos and videos emerge showing that the bridge has collapsed after being hit with record floods.

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Warning over tropical swimming spots after tourist swept away at Mossman Gorge

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Call for closures from water safety researchers comes as police search for woman missing in far north Queensland waterway

Experts have called for popular tropical attractions to be closed when waterways reach dangerous conditions, after an incident at waterhole in far north Queensland.

The search for a 54-year-old woman, who was swept away in distress at Mossman Gorge, 68km north-west of Cairns, entered its fourth day on Monday, with police divers scouring the water for the missing tourist. She was last seen in the water on Friday.

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Competing NSW housing policies could put ‘inflationary’ pressure on prices, economists warn

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Experts say Labor’s stamp duty exemptions and Coalition’s land tax policy will likely benefit sellers most

The much-vaunted housing relief packages proposed by Labor and the Coalition in New South Wales are both “much ado about nothing”, experts say, warning they are likely to put upward pressure on prices as Sydney’s over-heated property market begins to cool.

Labor fired the starter’s gun on state election season on Monday, putting a plan to increase stamp duty exemptions for first home buyers facing cost-of-living pressures in western Sydney at the centre of its bid to win government after a decade in opposition.

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Labor urged to keep ‘golden ticket’ investor visa primarily used by Chinese migrants

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Immigration expert says the policy amounts to selling a visa ‘very cheaply’ without a good return on investment

The Australia China Business Council has urged Labor to retain the “golden ticket” significant investor visa after the home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, signalled it could be axed.

The council made the call in a submission to the home affairs department’s migration review, which has also reignited debate between business and unions about the level of migration and raising the pay floor for temporary skilled migrants.

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Defence personnel deployed to aid flooding recovery – as it happened

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Voice leaders ‘tired of political games’

A leading Indigenous voice to parliament advocate has lashed the “tired political games” marring discussion around the proposed advisory body, AAP reports.

Constitutions are for principle. The machinery is for parliament. The High Court of Australia was recognised in 1901 and set up via legislation several years later … it’s a normal constitutional approach.

The Uluru Statement was issued to the Australian people because as Australians we are tired of political games. This isn’t about politicians and politicking, this is about the Australian people and our future.

You can’t just say to the Australian public as the prime minister, ‘you vote at an election … on a Saturday and we’ll give you the detail on the Monday’. It’s a very serious decision to change our constitution.

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Not a day to celebrate: Wollongong university staff given option to work on Australia Day holiday

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Vice-chancellor says 26 January is seen as Invasion Day by First Nations colleagues and we should ‘be clear about what we’re celebrating’

The University of Wollongong (UOW) is giving staff the option to work through the 26 January holiday, making it the latest employer to offer the policy in a show of solidarity with First Nations people.

The university announced on Monday that it would offer all fixed-term and permanent employees the flexibility to work rather than taking the day as a public holiday, citing the painful associations it may have for Indigenous communities.

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Woman drowns at Gordons Bay in Sydney as surfer dies at Jervis Bay on NSW south coast

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Two deaths on Monday come amid a deadly summer in the water across Australia

A woman has drowned while swimming at Gordons Bay in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, while a man in his 60s died while surfing on the New South Wales south coast on Monday.

It has been a deadly summer in the water around Australia. At least 30 people have drowned across the country this summer, according to Royal Life Saving Australia’s national drowning toll.

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Interest rate hikes trigger Australian housing market’s biggest decline in 40 years

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But market is unlikely to have bottomed out, with further cash rate increases from 3.1% likely to continue driving prices lower in 2023

The Reserve Bank’s aggressive rate-hiking cycle has triggered the housing market’s biggest decline in more than four decades.

The 8.4% drop between May 2022 and January 2023 is the deepest peak-to-trough fall on CoreLogic’s records, which date back to 1980.

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