Global heating to drive stronger La Niña and El Niño events by 2030, researchers say

New modelling suggests climate change-driven variability will be detectable decades earlier than previously expected

Stronger La Niña and El Niño events due to global heating will be detectable in the eastern Pacific Ocean by 2030, decades earlier than previously expected, new modelling suggests.

Researchers have analysed 70 years of reliable sea surface temperature records in the Pacific Ocean to model changes in the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (Enso) under current projections of global heating.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

In-home aged care’s administration fees to be capped amid gouging fears

Exclusive: Charges for switching packages also to be banned as care advocates welcome government’s changes

Administration fees for in-home aged care packages will be capped under new federal reforms, after concerns some providers are “gouging” clients with charges of up to 60%.

Aged care advocates have welcomed the change, saying some providers were overcharging or using inefficient practices, and that more transparency on pricing would further lower prices.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Queensland premier backs police commissioner ahead of release of inquiry’s findings

Annastacia Palaszczuk says report into police responses to domestic violence will be released Monday

Queensland’s police commissioner, Katarina Carroll, continues to have the backing of the premier ahead of the release of a commission of inquiry report after a series of damning hearings.

On Wednesday the premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, said the report would be released publicly on Monday, but would not comment on its contents as she has not finished reading it.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

News live: Penny Wong condemns Russia’s deadly missile attacks; Deliveroo to end operations in Australia

Foreign minister says ‘Australia stands with Ukraine’ following reports a Russian missile landed in Polish territory killing two people. Follow the day’s news

ABC Radio asked Simon Birmingham about reports from this morning that a Russian missile has hit Poland near the Ukraine border: The shadow foreign affairs minister says:

This is deeply, deeply troubling news.

If an accident occurs it can result in a real escalation ... it shows just how dangerous a game Russia is playing.

We can’t expect instant miracles, but the ultimate test of dialogue will be the outcomes that are received if this dialogue is successful, to see breakthroughs in regard to those trade barriers... and also critically the just treatment of Australian’s detained in China.

And then of course challenges in terms of engagement within the region, that we must continue to argue for China to respect international law, international rules and norms

Continue reading...

Proposed NSW disaster authority would have ‘virtually unfettered’ land-clearing powers, Greens say

Conservation groups have also condemned the legislation, with National Parks Association ‘extremely alarmed’

A proposed new natural disaster authority in New South Wales would have “virtually unfettered” powers to overturn environmental protections and could result in the clearing of national parks, crossbench MPs and environment groups have warned.

The state’s planning minister, Anthony Roberts, introduced a bill to parliament on Monday to create a “Reconstruction Authority” dedicated to disaster preparedness, recovery and reconstruction.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Husband charged with causing wife’s death in golf buggy crash on Hamilton Island honeymoon

NSW man, 30, charged with driving without due care and attention causing death, failing to wear a seatbelt and using a mobile phone

A widower whose bride of 10 days was killed in a buggy accident on the couple’s tropical Queensland honeymoon has been charged over her death.

The 30-year-old NSW man was driving a registered golf buggy with his wife on board on Hamilton Island in June when they crashed.

Continue reading...

Queensland children may be pleading guilty to crimes they didn’t commit to avoid bail laws, report says

Police minister Mark Ryan says nation-leading incarceration rates reflect what the community wants

Queensland children could be pleading guilty to offences they didn’t commit, a new report suggests, with the state’s police minister saying its nation-leading rates of youth incarceration reflect the “community’s expectation”.

The comments from Mark Ryan came after he released an eight-month-old report, assessing new bail laws designed to enable the Palaszczuk government’s “crackdown on youth crime”, late on Tuesday night.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Clive Palmer fails in supreme court bid to stop criminal charges proceeding

Mining magnate and his company Palmer Leisure Coolum were charged by commonwealth director of public prosecutions for alleged takeover law breaches

Mining magnate Clive Palmer has failed in a supreme court bid to stop criminal charges proceeding against him.

Palmer lost the latest round in his legal fight against the corporate watchdog and regulator after being hit with charges on two fronts.

Continue reading...

Labor to boost whistleblower protections in last sitting fortnight of parliamentary year

Exclusive: government will introduce new laws to make ‘immediate improvements’ ahead of fuller review in 2023, attorney general reveals

Labor will move to boost whistleblower protections by introducing a new bill in the final sitting fortnight of the 2022 parliament, the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, has revealed.

The Albanese government will introduce amendments to deliver “immediate improvements” to whistleblowing laws ahead of a fuller review in 2023, Dreyfus will tell an anti-corruption conference in Sydney on Wednesday.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

‘We’ve come such a long way’: Labor’s Jacinta Allan on pushing gender equality forward in Victoria

The likely successor to Daniel Andrews as party leader says it’s committed to overhauling women’s health statewide – but there’s always more to do

As the likely successor to Daniel Andrews, Jacinta Allan is prepared for a lot of things. But seeing a premier tweeting about tampons was something she could never have fathomed when she was first elected two decades ago.

“We’ve come such a long way in the time I’ve been in parliament,” she says.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

After 41 years, controversial Christian crusader Fred Nile prepares to leave NSW parliament

Some say the former head of the Christian Democrats may have ‘mellowed’ over time – but the 88-year-old says he hasn’t changed his views

One of the final acts in the long, divisive career of the Rev Fred Nile may have been thwarted by an administrative error.

In the New South Wales upper house last week, Nile had been due to begin the debate on a bill he co-authored with the progressive MP Alex Greenwich to reform the protection of Indigenous culture and heritage.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Australia’s ‘carbon capital’ charts a course away from fossil fuels and a boom-bust cycle

Queensland’s Gladstone council is pinning its hopes on a 10-year energy transition plan, amid concerns for its future in a net zero world

The 6.30am twin-engine service from Brisbane to Gladstone on Monday morning is chock full of blokes in hi-vis and heavy boots.

But this week federal public servants, journalists, renewable energy advocates and the Queensland energy minister joined the usual crowd of Fifo workers descending on the town.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Queensland watch house whistleblower labelled ‘dog’ in Facebook group for police

Exclusive: current and former officers appear to be involved in the conversation about the whistleblower on a private group

A Queensland police whistleblower who leaked audio recordings of officers using racist and violent language has been called a “rat” and a “dog” in a private Facebook group for police officers.

The QPS has apologised for the “sickening and disturbing” Brisbane city watch house recordings – which included comments that black people should be beaten and buried – and said the incidents are being investigated.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Veterinarians warn horse owners in Australia’s flood zones to guard against Japanese encephalitis

Warm weather and stagnant flood waters have created ideal conditions for mosquito-borne diseases

Veterinarians have warned horse owners to be on the lookout for symptoms of Japanese encephalitis as widespread flooding and warmer days creates “the perfect storm” for mosquito-borne diseases across eastern Australia.

It comes as the Australian Medical Association has urged people to protect themselves against mosquito bites and to get vaccinated for Japanese encephalitis if they are eligible, after a slow vaccine uptake in at-risk communities.

Continue reading...

Australia news live: immediate evacuation orders as central west NSW faces dramatic floods; record early voting in Victoria

The SES has said the Lachlan River is rising faster than originally forecast. Follow all today’s news

Some issues ‘we have raised will be solved overnight’: Chalmers

Albanese has said there are no preconditions ahead of the meeting with Xi but Karvelas is pressing Chalmers on what could be on the table. He’s staying pretty tight-lipped but here are some of his answers.

We’ve made it really clear for some time … that these trade sanctions are not in Australia’s interests, and we want to see them lifted.

I don’t think anybody pretends some of the issues China has raised, certainly some we have raised will be solved overnight, but again we give ourselves a much better chance where there is engagement and dialogue.

Australia’s made its views clear over a long period of time when it comes to the detention of these two people.

What’s Australia’s ambition here?

We seek a more stable relationship with China.

We will speak up for our national interest where necessary, but we believe engagement is important to give ourselves the chance to work through some of these issues if we’re talking to each other.

Continue reading...

Flagship post-Brexit Australia trade deal ‘not actually very good’, MPs hear

Former minister George Eustice tells Commons senior civil servant in charge of negotiations should be replaced

The UK’s flagship post-Brexit trade deal with Australia is “not actually a very good deal”, former environment secretary George Eustice has said.

In highly critical comments, Eustice called for the resignation of Crawford Falconer, the interim permanent secretary for the Department for International Trade, telling the Commons Falconer “resented” people who understood technical trade issues better than him.

Continue reading...

Australian business hails Albanese’s meeting with Xi as ‘tremendous reset’

Business Council of Australia chief Jennifer Westacott sees a chance to ‘start building relationships’ damaged by trade and human rights disputes

The Business Council of Australia has hailed the Albanese government’s “tremendous reset” with China as a breakthrough meeting was planned for Tuesday between the Australian prime minister and the Chinese president on the sidelines of the G20.

The BCA’s chief executive, Jennifer Westacott, told journalists on Monday night that Labor’s “huge foreign policy reset” with Indonesia and Pacific countries, and the “tremendous reset announced today with China”, was creating opportunity “for business to come in behind … and start building those business-to-business relationships”.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

UK gave away ‘too much for too little’ in free trade deal with Australia, says former minister, blaming Truss – as it happened

George Eustice says the free trade deal with Australia – hailed by Boris Johnson as one of the big gains from Brexit – was poor. This live blog is now closed

James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, was criticised last month for saying that gay football fans visiting Qatar for the Word Cup should “be respectful”, and make allowance for the country’s intolerance of homosexuality.

In an interview on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Cleverly defended his comments, saying that the Foreign Office always advises people to obey local laws when they are travelling. He told the programme:

My focus is to make sure that British visitors, particularly LGBTQ+ visitors to Qatar going to enjoy the World Cup, are safe and that they enjoy their tournament. So my advice was purely about ensuring that they have a safe and secure time at the World Cup.

We always say that you have to respect the laws of your host nation. That is a universal element of British travel advice.

I’ve spoken at length with the Qatari authorities on this and it’s worth bearing in mind that men and women don’t typically hold hands in Qatar, and other conservative Muslim countries like Qatar, so my strong advice is to look at the UK government’s travel advice.

This deal is just the same as previous deals - spending money and resources on intercepting and obstructing people crossing the Channel, while doing nothing to address their need for safe access to an asylum system.

The inevitable result will be more dangerous journeys and more profits led by ruthless smuggling gangs and other serious criminals exploiting the refusal of the UK and French government to take and share responsibility.

Continue reading...

Fraser Island’s formation over 1m years ago was critical to development of Great Barrier Reef, study reveals

Scientists say the world’s largest sand island helped create clearer water conditions for reef growth

The world’s largest sand island formed around a million years ago and enabled the southern and central Great Barrier Reef to develop, new research suggests.

An international team of scientists have dated K’gari (Fraser Island) and the nearby Cooloola Sand Mass in south-east Queensland as forming between 0.7m and 1.2m years ago.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Australia still trails most developed countries in climate performance ranking

Despite Labor’s increased emissions target, Australia has only improved four places to 55th out of 63 in the annual index

Australia continues to trail other developed countries in addressing the climate crisis, in part due to the Albanese government’s support for new fossil fuel developments, according to an analysis released at the Cop27 UN conference in Egypt.

The climate change performance index, published by Germanwatch, the NewClimate Institute and the Climate Action Network with input from 450 climate and energy experts and campaigners, found Australia was still a “very low performing country”. It ranked 55th on a list of 63 countries and country groupings, up from 59th last year.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...