Advocates warn increased costs for basic assistance like showers and wound cleaning will push older people into aged care or hospital
Margaret Duckett is scared for her friends.
The 77-year-old pensioner is the recipient of a home care package – which allows her to get support with cleaning, gardening, transport, physiotherapy and podiatry – and some personal care, so she can continue living independently at her home in Sydney’s Riverview.
Continue reading...Resignation comes after Media Watch revealed a German defence company bidding for an Australian contract paid for him to visit its shipyards
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A senior journalist at the ABC has tendered his resignation two months after the public broadcaster’s Media Watch program raised potential conflict-of-interest concerns over a press junket.
Andrew Greene has been defence correspondent for the past 10 years since joining the ABC in 2010.
Continue reading...Benedict Bryant has pleaded not guilty to a charge of dangerous driving occasioning death
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Harrowing footage has been aired in court of the moment an Indigenous teenager riding a trail bike crashed into a police vehicle, as a battle erupts over the relevance of an earlier collision.
Sgt Benedict Bryant, 47, was behind the wheel when Jai Kalani Wright rode the motorbike into his unmarked police vehicle in inner-city Sydney on 19 February 2022.
Continue reading...Pre-sentencing hearing at Victorian supreme court concludes after Patterson was found guilty of triple murder and attempted murder in July
Court hears statement from sister of Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson
Prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC is reading a victim impact statement on behalf of Lynette Young, the sister of Gail and Heather. She says:
I’m just so angry and so sad that my people are not here to be the loving parents and grandparents that they always were.
She was more concerned about our own family, our work, our kids, than she was about her own sudden and unexpected health crisis …
I miss her daily and life feels less bright without her.
The world seems colder and harsher knowing this.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Environment department document states that Burrup peninsula site near Woodside gas plant ‘under threat of injury or desecration’
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The environment minister, Murray Watt, has been advised by his department to declare a protection order over part of the Burrup peninsula in Western Australia due to its significance as an Aboriginal site, a government affidavit filed in the federal court shows.
A Murujuga traditional custodian, Raelene Cooper, applied in 2022 to protect the area’s cultural heritage from nearby industrial activities, including Woodside’s planned extension of its North West Shelf processing plant.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed
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David Littleproud continues to insist the Coalition is not setting itself up for another election defeat by maintaining its support for nuclear power.
Speaking to 2GB on Sunday, Littleproud said the Coalition would take a different approach than it did at the last election by lifting the moratorium on nuclear power generation in Australia and “let the market do it”.
I just say to your city viewers, regional Australia is bearing the brunt of this. I’m seeing towns and I’m actually seeing families being torn up by these renewable projects that are tearing up their productivity, your food security and actually the native environment. And it’s all without premise.
Artificial intelligence was absolutely central to our discussions because it will be absolutely gamechanging in our economy and our society into the future.
Getting it to 8% will be a good effort but not good enough, as minister Mark Butler has pointed out, so we will continue to work with the states on providing the support that people need and deserve, particularly in this instance, when it comes to Thriving Kids.
Well, that’s the ongoing discussions that we’ve been having, whether it’s treasurers, health ministers, NDIS ministers, leaders, have been having this discussion since the deal was struck.
What’s the best way to implement. Two deals, not one. They are closely related. There are billions and billions of dollars tied up in them and so we’ve been trying to progress both of those deals at once for good reason because there are swings and roundabouts for both of us.
Continue reading...No plan to alter concessional measures on retirees’ superannuation as part of tax reforms, Jim Chalmers says
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Retirees still deserve concessional treatment on their superannuation, the treasurer says, despite mounting calls for an overhaul of the tax system.
Jim Chalmers said fairness for younger generations needed to be considered as part of any change to taxes, after talks at the three-day productivity roundtable in Canberra.
Continue reading...Commuters could get from Woollahra to city in eight minutes on eastern suburbs line with rezoning of area to include ‘a dedicated portion of affordable housing’
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Australia’s oldest suburban rail network is on track for its first new station in more than a decade to boost construction of 10,000 homes in the country’s most expensive property market.
A station wasn’t built at Woollahra on Sydney’s eastern suburbs line when the route was built in the 1970s because of community opposition.
Continue reading...Exclusive: ‘Final draft’ social media document says staff should report concerns about their colleagues’ social media use to their manager
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The doctors’ union is warning a New South Wales Health social media policy being drafted will gag frontline health workers speaking up publicly for patient care in Australia, as the government agency insists it is an update to an existing policy.
According to the “final draft” document, social media subject to the rules includes “internal communication tools” such as Microsoft Teams, and instant messaging software applications including WhatsApp, as well as social media networking sites and forums for discussion.
Continue reading...Vice-chancellors say they’ve been forced to restructure but critics point finger at ‘unaccountable’ university management
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Hundreds of university courses within teaching, languages, archaeology and media are among those being slashed as the tertiary sector pushes back against “confused” government policies.
Almost half of Australia’s universities have restructured in the past year, leading to the merging or disbanding of more than 50 schools of study and drastic reductions in course options for students, particularly in the humanities.
Continue reading...Pausing changes to Construction Code, establishment of ‘strike team’ within environment department and use of AI in planning among reforms
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The Albanese government has promised to cut red tape and fast track environmental approvals for new homes in an effort to address Australia’s housing crisis.
On Saturday, the government announced plans to pause further residential changes to the National Construction Code and to streamline the assessment of more than 26,000 homes under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.
Continue reading...Nationals leader rails against regional Australia becoming littered with transmission lines, solar panels and wind turbines at LNP conference
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The Nationals are vowing to introduce nuclear power to Australia’s energy mix, promising to take the policy to the next election after it contributed to a split in the Coalition.
Nationals leader David Littleproud explained to party faithful on Saturday what led to his party’s week-long decoupling from the Liberals following the May federal election rout.
Continue reading...The revenue from fuel excise is falling but it’s not only because of EVs, which make up less than 2% of cars on the roads
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Every time a driver puts 10 litres of fuel in their car, they’re paying about $5 in tax that goes to the federal government.
That is, of course, unless they drive an electric vehicle. No petrol or diesel being bought means the government loses that 51c per litre.
Continue reading...The state’s corruption watchdog is up against the age-old dynamic of cosy relationships: no one on the inside of politics wants to change
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Australia’s parliaments aren’t just filled with MPs, staff and media – but also armies of lobbyists seeking an audience or a coffee with the people who can affect their interests with the stroke of a pen.
Millions of dollars are at stake. Will the government rezone land? Tweak a law that makes an activity legal? Exempt an activity from tax or grant an environmental approval?
Continue reading...The infant’s mother, in her 30s, had been assisting police with enquiries since Wednesday
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A woman has been charged with concealing the birth of a deceased child after the body of a baby boy was found in a storm water drain in Perth.
The woman, in her 30s, had been assisting police with enquiries since Wednesday following the discovery of the infant on Monday afternoon.
Continue reading...Matt Wright has pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice
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The reality TV star Matt Wright’s home was bugged with listening devices and phone taps for three months as police sought evidence of a cover-up following a fatal helicopter crash, a jury has heard.
Covert recordings of Wright’s conversations have played a key part in his trial at the Northern Territory supreme court in Darwin.
Continue reading...Albanese government joins 20 other countries in condemning Israeli plan to expand Jewish settlements. Follow today’s news live
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Australia signs international statement to allow media access to Gaza
It’s been a busy night for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
In light of the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, we, the undersigned members of the Media Freedom Coalition, urge Israel to allow immediate independent foreign media access and afford protection for journalists operating in Gaza.
Journalists and media workers play an essential role in putting the spotlight on the devastating reality of war. Access to conflict zones is vital to carrying out this role effectively. We oppose all attempts to restrict press freedom and block entry to journalists during conflicts.
The decision by the Israeli higher planning committee to approve plans for settlement construction in the E1 area, East of Jerusalem, is unacceptable and a violation of international law.
We condemn this decision and call for its immediate reversal in the strongest terms.
Continue reading...Eucalyptus regnans – which regularly reach 60 to 80m tall – lose about 9% of their trees for every degree of warming, research finds
Victoria’s mountain ash forests are thinning rapidly as the globe heats up, and could lose a quarter of their “giant” trees that grow up to 80m tall in the coming decades, research has found.
Forests of Eucalyptus regnans – one of the tallest tree species in the world – lose about 9% of their trees for every degree of warming, according to a University of Melbourne-led study published in Nature Communications.
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Continue reading...Despite premier David Crisafulli’s wish for his party to maintain a moderate outlook, members have presented a number of divisive social issues for debate this weekend
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At this weekend’s state conference, Queensland Liberal National party members will debate banning gender-affirming care for children, repealing a ban on conversion practices and adopting a policy “whereby batteries, solar panels and wind turbines should no longer be deemed as renewables”.
Seven separate motions reference “gender ideology”, gender-affirming care or transgender people, but the word “abortion” does not appear on the agenda for the LNP’s first convention since winning last year’s state election.
Continue reading...Zali Burrows told she has had ‘plenty’ of opportunity to consider issue in case despite repeated requests to adjourn early
Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation appeal lawyer has repeatedly asked the federal court to adjourn early to give her more time to prepare, but the justices refused, telling the solicitor she has had “plenty” of time.
Sydney criminal solicitor Zali Burrows is representing Lehrmann, who is appealing Justice Michael Lee’s April 2024 judgment, which found the former Liberal staffer was not defamed by Lisa Wilkinson and Network 10 when The Project broadcast an interview with Brittany Higgins in 2021 in which she alleged she was raped in Parliament House.
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