Category Archives: Australia news

Court to rule on release of ‘explosive’ evidence in accused Victoria campsite killer case

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Lawyers for Greg Lynn seek to suppress contents of all interviews and statements he gave to Victorian police

A man accused of murdering two campers in a remote part of alpine Victoria returns to court on Monday, with a decision set to be made on the release of “explosive” material and evidence likely from the detective in charge of the investigation.

Greg Lynn, a former airline pilot, is charged with murdering Russell Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73, who went missing in March 2020 while camping in the Wonnangatta Valley, east of Melbourne.

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Wieambilla shootings: killers’ daughter speaks out about their descent into world of conspiracies

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Madelyn Train talks publicly for the first time about their ‘evil’ final act and the last message she got from them

A woman whose parents killed two Queensland police officers and a neighbour before dying at a remote property has spoken for the first time about their descent into conspiracy theories and ultimately, violence.

Madelyn Train’s father, Nathaniel, mother, Stacey, and uncle Gareth were killed by police in the incident that left six people dead at Wieambilla last month.

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Two NDIS providers banned after fraud claims – as it happened

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This blog is now closed

New Australian factory to make construction material from recycled goods

A company making construction products entirely from used drink cartons, soft plastics, disposable coffee cops and similar products will launch its first Australian manufacturing plant at Warragamba next month.

It’s basically like making a big cheese toasty. You heat it up and cool it down a couple of times and the plastic melts between the gaps in the fibre.

It’s a straightforward process, but it’s focused on reducing problematic waste ... materials which, until we came along, had been completely un-recyclable and collected by container deposit schemes.

In Australia alone, we could unlock a massive $2tn worth of potential savings across two decades.

Those potential savings could come, for example, through reusing valuable resources currently going to waste in landfill, such as plastics, glass, masonry and metals.

For far too long healthcare in western Sydney has been an afterthought.

The thousands of people moving into the area every year deserve world class healthcare.

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Novak Djokovic joins calls for Australian Open to address schedule issues

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  • Concerns raised over late finishes at Melbourne Park
  • ‘It’s really gruelling,’ says Serbian nine-times champion

Novak Djokovic has added his voice to calls for changes to be made to the Australian Open schedule amid growing concern over player welfare and fairness at this year’s tournament at Melbourne Park.

Andy Murray was forced to back up just a day and a half after a gruelling near-six hour epic against Thanasi Kokkinakis that did not finish until 4am local time, a match that highlighted the issue for the first time at this year’s grand slam.

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Labor well ahead of Dominic Perrottet’s Coalition in latest NSW election poll

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YouGov poll shows opposition would easily win a majority, with strong backing from young voters

A new poll shows Labor would comfortably defeat the Coalition at the New South Wales state election if the vote was held today.

The YouGov poll, published in the Sunday Telegraph, shows the Coalition well behind in both first preference and two-party preferred standings.

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Australia must play an active role in ending nuclear arms race, cross-party MPs urge

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Statement calls for Albanese government to join landmark UN treaty banning nuclear weapons

Australian MPs from across the political spectrum have called on the Albanese government to join a landmark treaty banning nuclear weapons, declaring that the weapons “fundamentally undermine our peace and humanity”.

In a statement provided to Guardian Australia, a cross-party group of MPs warned of “escalating nuclear threats and provocations from nuclear-armed states” and said Australia must play an active role to end the nuclear arms race.

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Two Victoria police officers charged with assault after allegedly injuring man during arrest

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The 58-year-old man was treated in hospital after the incident, which took place on 4 February last year

Two Victorian police officers have been charged with assault after they allegedly injured a man during an arrest.

The 58-year-old man was treated in hospital after the incident in Narre Warren South, in Melbourne’s south-east, on 4 February last year.

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Is it time to turn western Sydney into a city of fountains? It might help beat the heat

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A combination of water technologies and cool building materials are more effective at tackling urban heat than greenery, a study has found

The secret to more livable, cooler Australian cities may lie with the ancient Romans and a network of fountains like the Trevi and those in Piazza Navona, a new report on tackling urban heat has found.

Rome has a network of 2,000 fountains which draw huge crowds daily to enjoy their cooling effects in the dense city.

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Sydney shark attack: beaches in north closed after dolphin mauled

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Lifeguards close Shelly and Manly beaches after attack by multiple bull sharks

A shark attack on a dolphin has forced lifeguards to clear swimmers from the water on Sydney’s northern beaches.

The attack by multiple bull sharks off Shelly Beach near Manly occurred about 7am on Saturday, Surf Life Saving New South Wales (SLSNSW) said.

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South Australian universities to allow use of artificial intelligence in assignments, if disclosed

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Flinders University, the University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia adjust policies

Universities should stop panicking and embrace students’ use of artificial intelligence, AI experts say.

South Australia’s three main universities have updated their policies to allow the use of AI as long as it is disclosed.

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Kurtley Beale: Wallabies winger granted bail and denies Bondi sexual assault allegations

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Beale was ordered to surrender his passport, not contact witnesses and to report to police daily after appearing in Parramatta local court

High-profile rugby union player Kurtley Beale has denied sexually assaulting a woman in Sydney’s eastern suburbs last year after he was charged over the alleged incident.

The 34-year-old Wallabies winger was ordered on Saturday to surrender his passport, not contact witnesses and to report to police daily after he was granted bail in Parramatta local court.

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Michael Clarke and partner Jade Yarbrough fined by Queensland police over Noosa dispute

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Former Australian Test captain and Yarbrough fined with public nuisance

Former Australian Test captain Michael Clarke and his girlfriend have been fined after their public spat in Noosa.

Vision emerged on Wednesday of an expletive-laden argument with Clarke, partner Jade Yarbrough and her brother-in-law, Karl Stefanovic.

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Anthony Albanese meets Bill Gates; Sydney beaches closed after shark mauls dolphin – as it happened

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Prime minister holds talks with Microsoft founder on climate change, energy and health. This blog is now closed

AAP reports that NSW Labor says it will consult on a treaty with the state’s Aboriginal communities if it wins the state election in March.

The party would spend $5m on a year-long consultation process as part of a move towards a more formal treaty process.

If we want to realise improved justice, education, health and cultural outcomes for First Nations people, we must place First Nations communities at the centre of decision making.

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Criminalising nicotine vaping in Australia could cause ‘further harm’, drug experts warn

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Prohibitionist approach risks fuelling the black market, worsening health outcomes and sending people to jail unnecessarily, experts say

The criminalisation of nicotine vaping risks “unintended consequences” including fuelling the black market, causing worse health outcomes and even potentially putting people in prison when we should be trying to keep them out, the Australian Alcohol and other Drugs Council (AADC) says.

It is an offence in all states and territories to supply a nicotine vape to someone without a prescription, and to either possess or use one without a prescription.

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Fixation on Qantas won’t end, even if string of incidents were unconnected

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The national carrier leans into its emotional connection with Australians, so it is bound to be the focus of intense scrutiny

Perhaps the only place you could have escaped the news was onboard the plane itself.

When Qantas flight 144 issued a mayday call shortly after it left Auckland for Sydney on Wednesday, a familiar cycle kicked off that would have left many with a sense of deja vu: yet another problem on a Qantas flight. But this one seemed serious.

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Irving case prompts review of redress options for miscarriages of justice

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Exclusive: Australia is alone among democracies who have not ratified UN provision enabling legal remedy for someone wrongfully convicted or imprisoned

The Queensland attorney general, Shannon Fentiman, is “actively” pursuing reforms that would expand redress options for people who have been wrongfully convicted, including the possibility of allowing a second appeal in cases where new evidence emerges.

On Thursday, Guardian Australia wrote about the Aboriginal man Terry Irving’s 25-year pursuit of justice. Irving was wrongfully convicted of a bank robbery in Cairns in 1993. He was released from prison in 1997 after the high court said it had “the gravest misgivings about the circumstances of the case”.

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NSW Coalition split on cashless gaming as independent warns against regional exemptions

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Premier Dominic Perrottet rules out different rules for clubs and pubs in the bush, in contrast to deputy premier Paul Toole

The New South Wales Coalition appears split on the future of cashless gaming in the state once again after the Liberal premier, Dominic Perrottet, denied the government was considering a carve-out for regional pubs and clubs as part of the scheme.

The denial was made less than 24 hours after the leader of the Nationals and deputy premier, Paul Toole, said the option was part of “ongoing conversations”.

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Over 17,000 weapons surrendered in first year of Australian firearms amnesty

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Retrieved weapons include a Vietnam war-era flamethrower, sawn-off shotguns, rifles, gel blasters and revolvers

More than 17,000 weapons, including a Vietnam war-era flamethrower, were surrendered in the first year of Australia’s national permanent firearms amnesty.

States and territories struck an agreement with the Commonwealth in 2019 to establish an enduring amnesty allowing gun owners to hand in unregistered, illegal, or unwanted firearms without punishment or investigation.

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Australian researchers identify genes that cause sarcomas – as it happened

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First genetic map to identify important genes that cause one of most common cancers in children. This blog is now closed

Five-year $41m maintenance contract extension for army’s fleet of Chinook helicopters

The government has announced a $41m extension to an army helicopter maintenance contract.

The CH-47F Chinook fleet is an important capability for Defence, providing critical lift capability on several domestic and regional operations, including Bushfire Assist in 2020, and Tonga and Flood Assist in 2022. This contract extension will expand the maintenance and training support for our Chinook fleet, while boosting opportunities for defence industry in Queensland.

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Wallabies star Kurtley Beale arrested over alleged sexual assault at Sydney hotel

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Rugby union player is being questioned over report a 28-year-old woman was sexually assaulted at a Bondi Beach venue

The rugby union star Kurtley Beale has been arrested over an alleged sexual assault.

The 33-year-old Wallabies winger was taken into custody by police on Friday over an alleged incident in Sydney’s east on 17 December.

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