Category Archives: Australia news

AFL preliminary final 2022: Sydney Swans beat Collingwood Magpies – as it happened

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Sydney will meet Geelong in the AFL grand final, after the Swans held off a courageous comeback by one point to win a thriller

1st quarter, 10 minutes remaining: Sydney 4.2 (26) to Collingwood 0.0 (0) Swans putting a lot of pressure on Collingwood whenever the Pies have possession, and it’s pressure by Reid on Noble, rushing from standing the mark after giving away a free kick, that forces a kick out on the full on Sydney’s half-back flank. The Swans by contrast are clean with disposal, and a long kick finds Papley on the 50 arc. His set shot goes a long way, straight through.

1st quarter, 13 minutes remaining: Sydney 3.1 (19) to Collingwood 0.0 (0) Heeney has been prominent early, but a kick slews off the outside of his boot as he tries to pump it inside 50. The Pies escape trouble for a time, but get back into trouble as Hickey gets a 50-metre penalty at half-back when the player on the mark doesn’t move back. Hickey bombs it to the goalsquare, Franklin brings it to ground, and Ryan Clarke is there front and centre to snap it home.

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Government tries to block rail union action; PM lays wreath in London – as it happened

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Flood warnings in place for parts of Australia’s south-east. This blog is now closed

In Queensland, a jointly funded $7m package has been announced to back the state’s tourism industry in the wake of increasing extreme weather events.

The federal minister for emergency management, Senator Murray Watt, said the assistance would help Queensland tourism operators build disaster resilience after the extraordinary flood and cyclone events of 2021-2022.

Ensuring our tourism infrastructure is robust and ready for the next inevitable disaster is critical to the ongoing viability of the sector. This will provide funding for impacted tourism businesses to build their resilience and aid their response to future flooding and natural disasters through innovative solutions, including bespoke engineering solutions and improved business response to disasters.

A moderate flood peak was observed along the Peel River at Tamworth on Friday afternoon. Floodwaters from the Peel River combined with the outflows from Keepit Dam and a flood peak from the Mooki River may cause major flooding at Gunnedah and Wee Waa.

Minor flooding is likely along the Namoi River at Boggabri, Narrabri, Bugilbone and Goangra.

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Anthony Albanese lays floral tribute to Queen Elizabeth II before meeting with King Charles

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Australian prime minister says his visit is about ‘commemorating a life well-lived’

The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and his partner, Jodie Haydon, have laid a floral tribute to Queen Elizabeth II soon after touching down in London.

Albanese, who laid the small bouquet of white flowers at Green Park in Westminster, said his visit was about “commemorating a life well-lived”.

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NSW heads to court to try and block union plan to deactivate Opal readers at train stations

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Application lodged in Fair Work Commission to have action to turn off or short circuit the machines declared unprotected

The New South Wales government is headed to court in a bid to block union plans to deactivate Opal readers at train stations as part of an ongoing industrial stoush.

A section 418 application has been lodged in the Fair Work Commission to have the “destructive action” to turn off or short circuit the machines from Wednesday declared unprotected, the state’s transport minister, David Elliott, said.

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Flood warnings in NSW and northern Victoria as more wild weather expected

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Flood warnings issued for parts of Upper Murray and the Peel, Macquarie and Lachlan rivers in NSW, and Victorian communities along Murray River

Thousands of New South Wales residents were under flood watch as the Bureau of Meteorology issued major warnings across the state on Saturday.

Emergency personnel performed 11 rescues from floodwaters overnight, with more wild weather forecast for the weekend.

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Jacqui Lambie says major parties ‘killing’ Australia and blasts Labor over stage three tax cuts

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Senator tells Festival of Dangerous Ideas the rise of the teals is ‘the breakthrough our country’s been waiting for’

Jacqui Lambie has called for an end to Australia’s major political parties while launching a scathing critique of Labor’s unwillingness to dump the controversial stage three tax cuts.

The independent senator for Tasmania told an audience at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas in Sydney on Saturday the federal government’s failure to increase jobseeker payments above the poverty line while waving through the tax cuts was emblematic of the “broken” political system.

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‘All high value’: video of raid on Melissa Caddick’s Sydney home shows extensive jewellery collection

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Inquest into disappearance and presumed death of alleged fraudster shown footage of 12-hour raid at Dover Heights mansion in November 2020

As the corporate watchdog and federal police turned Melissa Caddick’s Sydney mansion upside down searching for evidence of her alleged multimillion-dollar fraud, the businesswoman took an afternoon nap.

Earlier on that mid-November 2020 morning, Caddick had shown Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Asic) and federal police officers rows of earrings, bracelets, cufflinks and necklaces from luxury brands including Dior and Stefano Canturi. They were all seized from a safe, her inquest was told.

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Australian farmers fear exports could be hurt by new EU land-clearing laws

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But environmental groups say changes could put sustainable producers at ‘front of queue’

Australian farmers are scrambling to understand the ramifications of new European laws on land-clearing, which could harm exports of products such as beef or paper under stricter environmental controls.

But environmental groups and some in the federal government believe the new laws could help Australian producers with more sustainable farming techniques get to “the front of the queue”, as negotiations continue for a free trade agreement with the European Union.

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Courts lift suppression orders on ATO whistleblower Richard Boyle’s landmark case

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Boyle took unprecedented step of invoking Australia’s whistleblower protections after exposing tax agency’s aggressive debt collecting practices in 2018

The South Australian courts have lifted suppression orders that would have stymied the media’s ability to report on a landmark case launched by tax office whistleblower Richard Boyle.

The decision, which follows an intervention by Guardian Australia, paves the way for media to more freely report on the first major test of Australia’s whistleblowing laws, which will likely have significant consequences for the protections available to others who speak out about government wrongdoing.

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Parts of Australia’s south-east brace for wet, cold and windy weather

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More than a dozen people rescued from flood waters in NSW while severe weather warning issued in western Victoria

South-eastern Australia is bracing for a wet and windy weekend with temperatures expected to drop in most major centres.

A deep low-pressure system is expected to fuel a number of cold fronts, with rain now likely to last into next week.

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Calls for 50,000 new social houses in Queensland before 2032 Olympics

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Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announces 200 new crisis accommodation units as prelude to upcoming housing summit

Social services organisations have welcomed the Queensland government’s moves to source urgent crisis accommodation for a growing number of homeless people, but warn that only long-term measures can ultimately fix the state’s housing crisis.

The state’s premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, on Friday chaired a roundtable with housing industry groups, local government and the social services sector. The meeting was a prelude to a housing summit next month.

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Labor MP claims rate decisions based on ‘outdated and outmoded data’ – as it happened

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NSW roads impacted by rainfall

Man falls to his death while hiking near Gold Coast waterfall

Emergency services were initially called to Tanninaba Falls around 12.15pm following reports a man falling several metres down a cliff face.

Crews located the man at the bottom of the cliff and was declared deceased a short time later.

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University drops Santos branding of kids’ science roadshow after climate concerns raised

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Exclusive: high profile scientist Lesley Hughes had called on Macquarie University to pull out of hosting Santos Science Experience event

Macquarie University has dropped Santos branding and support for a school science roadshow after a senior Australian climate scientist complained sponsorship from a company expanding fossil fuel production was inappropriate.

Prof Lesley Hughes asked her own institution, Sydney’s Macquarie University, to pull out of hosting one of the events for the Santos Science Experience, arguing the company’s expansion plans were putting children’s future at stake.

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Call for UN torture watchdog to investigate Australia’s handcuffing of asylum seekers en route to medical care

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Detainees report feeling humiliated sitting in handcuffs in waiting rooms during medical appointments

The United Nations’ torture prevention watchdog has been urged to investigate Australia’s use of handcuffs on asylum seekers when seeking medical care – a practice advocates condemn as inhumane and unlawful.

In 2020, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (Piac) launched a landmark test case in the federal court alleging the practice of handcuffing immigration detainees for medical transfers was unlawful and traumatic, particularly for those with histories of torture and abuse.

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Julia Gillard says Australia will ultimately become republic after death of Queen Elizabeth II

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Former PM endorses Anthony Albanese’s view to wait on debate, saying ‘no rush’ on moving away from British head of state

Julia Gillard says Australia will ultimately become a republic but has endorsed the prime minister, Anthony Albanese’s view it is too soon for the debate.

The former Australian prime minister told the ABC, in her first interview since the Queen’s death, that Albanese was right to delay consideration of a republic to a future term of government.

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Federal government urged to extend voting rights to 16 and 17-year-olds and prisoners

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Submissions into 2022 election inquiry include calls for regulation of ‘electoral lies’ and stricter caps on political donations

The Albanese government is being urged to expand voting rights to 16 and 17-year-olds and people in prison in submissions to an inquiry into the 2022 election.

The academic Prof George Williams has proposed voluntary voting for 16 and 17-year-olds, and regulating “electoral lies” to prevent “baseless claims” such as Donald Trump’s about unproven electoral fraud in the US.

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One in seven buy now, pay later customers had more than 20 loans last year, Choice survey shows

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Use of BNPL services to cover essential bills raises concerns as Albanese government prepares to consult on regulating the sector

One in seven users of credit from buy-now-pay-later providers such as Afterpay or Zip had more than 20 loans last year, according to new data from consumer group Choice.

The Choice survey also found that consumers were using BNPL services to cover essential bills, with one in six using the short-term loans to cover supermarket purchases and 14% to pay for power.

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Kumanjayi Walker inquest hears ‘negative interactions’ between police and Aboriginal people could ‘normalise’ racism

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Senior constable says he has not heard officers use racist slurs but agrees unchecked frustration could lead to generalisations

• Warning: This story contains offensive and racist slurs heard in court

An inquest into the police shooting death of Northern Territory man Kumanjayi Walker has been told “negative interactions” with Indigenous Australians could to lead to “normalised” racism within the police force.

Walker, 19, was shot three times by the NT police constable Zachary Rolfe during an attempted arrest in the remote Northern Territory community of Yuendumu in November 2019. Rolfe was found not guilty of murder and two alternative charges after a six-week trial in the supreme court in Darwin earlier this year.

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‘Localise everything’: After floods, Northern Rivers residents join forces to build disaster resilience

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In areas where some felt let down by emergency responses, community groups share skills such as how to clear landslips, operate chainsaws and preserve food

Northern Rivers residents are learning to use chainsaws, sandbag their homes and clear landslips safely as communities band together to ensure they are prepared for future natural disasters after this year’s devastating floods.

Their efforts have a new sense of urgency after the Bureau of Meteorology declared a La Niña event is under way – a weather pattern that typically elevates flood risks.

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Model mother or pretty face: campaign reveals seven potentially harmful female stereotypes in ads

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shEqual wants to reduce sexist stereotyping in advertising to avoid reinforcing dangerous social norms

Advertising agency founder and gender consultant Bec Brideson beamed with pride when her 11-year-old daughter pointed out the students at her all-girls school were being taught muscle anatomy by studying a drawing of a male body.

“My daughters have been trained to look to notice that male default and see that it’s all around them,” Brideson said.

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