Category Archives: Australia news

Labor rejects standalone AI legislation with plan that offers to help ‘unlock’ public and private data

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Roadmap focuses on technology’s ‘economic benefits’ and says existing laws will cover the fast-growing new technology

The Albanese government has decided against legislation to manage artificial intelligence, with a new national roadmap emphasising Labor’s focus on the technology’s economic benefits and plans to “unlock” vast datasets held by private companies and the public service to help train AI models.

Supporting and reskilling workers affected by AI in their jobs, boosting investment in datacentres, and sharing the productivity benefits across the economy are key components of the Labor government’s National AI Plan, launched on Tuesday.

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Australia could miss clean energy target as solar and wind investment slumps, investors warn

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Expert cautions large pipeline of potential projects will not deliver required energy capacity unless companies make final investments

Renewable energy investors have warned “deep structural issues” are driving a slump in solar and wind investment in Australia, with commitments on large-scale farms at the lowest level in almost a decade.

Clean Energy Regulator data shows the government agency expects 2.5GW of industry-scale renewable energy capacity to reach a final investment decision this year, down from 4GW last year. The 12-month average for investment commitments on new developments is at its lowest since early 2017.

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Sydney police charge four men over alleged ‘international satanic child sex abuse material ring’

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Detectives claim to have uncovered Sydney-based network involving online distribution of child sexual abuse material involving ritualistic or satanic themes

Four Australians remain locked up after being charged for alleged involvement in a satanic child sexual abuse material ring.

Detectives busted an apparent Sydney-based pedophile network they claimed was actively involved in possessing, distributing and facilitating child sexual abuse involving ritualistic or satanic themes.

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More than 670 NSW pokies venues to be stripped of ability to stay open after 4am

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Exclusive: Government to end exemptions to mandated closing times for pubs and clubs, including those that allow 24/7 gambling

More than 670 poker machine venues across New South Wales will lose their “outdated exemptions” to operate after 4am as the state government responds to pressure to address “a public health catastrophe”.

The decision, announced by the state’s gaming minister David Harris, will ensure gaming rooms are closed at the mandated 4am deadline. Some venues are allowing them to be played 24/7.

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Gen Z Australians are attempting suicide and self-harming more than previous generations, study finds

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Exclusive: Separate research also shows number of young children having suicidal thoughts has risen at ‘alarming’ rate

Young Australians aged 16 to 25 are attempting to kill themselves, self-harming and experiencing suicidal thoughts in greater numbers and at earlier ages than previous generations, a landmark study has found.

It comes as Kids Helpline data provided exclusively to Guardian Australia shows the proportion of young children experiencing suicidality is increasing at “alarming” rates and being expressed by children as young as six.

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Couple from Kazakhstan allegedly used hidden camera and earpieces to win $1.18m from Sydney’s Crown casino

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Woman, 36, and her husband, 44, arrested at Barangaroo and charged with dishonestly obtaining financial advantage

A married couple from Kazakhstan has allegedly won more than $1m from Sydney’s Crown casino using a tiny camera hidden in a Mickey Mouse T-shirt and “deep-seated earpieces” that allowed them to communicate.

New South Wales police said on Sunday the couple, Dilnoza Israilova and Alisherykhoja Israilov, were charged with dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception, after being arrested in the Barangaroo casino.

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Australia news live: grounded Jetstar flights resume; foreign couple arrested over alleged $1m Sydney casino fraud

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Follow all the day’s news live

Welcome to Guardian Australia’s Sunday live blog.

The Jetstar Airbus A320 planes that were recalled yesterday (leading to more than 90 domestic flights being cancelled) have all received the necessary software update and services have resumed as normal this morning.

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New behaviour standards are in place for parliament but crossbenchers say question time still rife with bullying

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Independent MP Zali Steggall says it’s not always clear who is behind disorderly behaviour – and sometimes it can be a whole section of a political party

Sweeping behavioural standards have now been in place in Australia’s parliament for years, but crossbench MPs have warned question time is still rife with bullying and a “mob mentality” that needs to be stamped out.

Data obtained through the speaker’s office shows 21 MPs across the Coalition and Labor have been booted out of question time 31 times, under standing order 94a during the first six months of the 48th parliament.

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Australian taxpayers subsidise rising specialist fees as spending on Abbott-era Medicare safety net ‘explodes’

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Exclusive: Health department data shows spending on the 2004 extended safety net has nearly tripled, from $324.9m in 2010 to $850.4m in 2024

Taxpayers are increasingly subsiding the rising fees of specialist doctors, as new data shows “explosive” government spending on the Medicare safety net, which has more than doubled in 15 years.

Total Medicare safety net benefits rose from $339m in 2010 to $871.4m in 2024, data requested by Guardian Australia from the federal health department shows, with an Abbott-era expansion causing the biggest blowout in costs while also increasing inequities in the health system.

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Virginia Giuffre’s sons deny unsigned document is their mother’s will

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After Jeffrey Epstein abuse victim died intestate, sons reject claim that documents presented by her lawyer and carer represent her final intentions

An unsigned will has emerged as the crux of the battle over the estate of Virginia Giuffre, one of the most prominent victims of disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Details of the document surfaced on Friday as hearings began in Western Australia’s supreme court, where her sons, her longtime lawyer and her former carer are all vying for control of the assets.

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Exclusive gun club linked to Andrew Hastie awarded almost $20,000 in government grants

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Liberal MP has declared conflict of interest with Port Bouvard Pistol and Small Bore Rifle Club, of which he is a patron

An exclusive gun club with links to the Liberal MP Andrew Hastie was awarded three government grants worth a total of almost $20,000 after being nominated by his office.

Hastie has declared a conflict of interest with the Port Bouvard Pistol and Small Bore Rifle Club. He is a patron, and has competed there at least twice.

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Bondi Junction stabbings: ‘10 seconds warning’ from security could have saved lives, inquest hears

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Families of those killed ‘angered’ that Scentre Group and Glad security did not accept control room operator was not competent to be in the position she was that day

Had new mother Ashlee Good been given “even 1o seconds’ warning” when Joel Cauchi began his stabbing spree at Westfield Bondi Junction, she might have been able to take evasive action to save her life, a court has heard.

Schizophrenic man Cauchi, 40, killed Good, 38, Jade Young, 47, Yixuan Cheng, 27, Pikria Darchia, 55, Dawn Singleton, 25, and Faraz Tahir, 30, and injured 10 others at Westfield Bondi Junction before he was shot and killed by police inspector Amy Scott.

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Police sergeant found guilty of causing death of 16-year-old Indigenous teenager Jai Wright

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Benedict Bryant convicted of dangerous driving occasioning death after placing police car in path of 16-year-old’s trail bike in Sydney in 2022

A police sergeant who was told not to pursue a teenager riding a trail bike has been told he caused the death of the young man when he placed his unmarked car in his path.

Benedict Bryant, 47, was found guilty on Friday of dangerous driving occasioning the death of Indigenous teenager Jai Kalani Wright in February 2022 in an inner Sydney suburb.

For information and support in Australia call 13YARN on 13 92 76 for a crisis support line for Indigenous Australians; or call Lifeline on 13 11 14, Mensline on 1300 789 978 and Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636

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Victorian man jailed after homemade gun misfires and kills his pregnant partner

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Kiara Ferguson died after Adam Winmar’s daughter, four, found loaded weapon in family’s couch in 2023

Six months’ pregnant with two children at home, a young regional Victorian woman was understandably upset when her four-year-old found a gun inside their couch.

Kiara Ferguson, 27, took the homemade firearm from the girl and marched to the back of the family home, where her partner of 10 years was in the toilet.

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Man dead and two under arrest after daylight shooting on suburban Sydney street

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Police say a man in his early 20s was found in Blacktown with gunshot wounds to his neck, chest and leg

A man has died and two others are in custody after a daylight shooting on a suburban street in Sydney.

Police were called to Carinya Street, Blacktown, at about 11.50am on Friday after reports of a public place shooting.

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Anti-abortion activist Joanna Howe claims her employer gave her immunity from complaints by pro-choice campaigners

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University of Adelaide, who employs Howe as a law professor, states that it ‘considers each matter on its merits’

A prominent anti-abortion campaigner who was banned from the South Australian parliament and accused of bullying, claims her employer has granted her immunity from complaints from anyone who is pro-choice.

Anti-abortion activist Joanna Howe, who has pledged to make abortion “unthinkable”, says the University of Adelaide, who employs her as a law professor, has agreed that those with ideologically opposed viewpoints to hers will be deemed “vexatious”, and any complaints they make about her will not be acted upon.

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State Library of Victoria faces job cuts as staff accuse management of pursuing ‘digital vanity projects’

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Under the plan, 39 jobs would be lost and the public-facing workforce of reference librarians would be cut from 25 staff to 10

State Library of Victoria staff have accused management of undermining the 171-year-old institution’s core purposes in favour of flashy tourist-oriented “digital vanity projects” in a proposed restructure.

Under the plan, 39 jobs would be lost and the public-facing workforce of reference librarians would be cut from 25 staff to 10, while many publicly accessible computers would be removed.

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Australian diet set to worsen as national food policy is drawn up by profit-driven industry, experts warn

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Exclusive: Many industries on new council are ‘associated with significant health harms’, one academic says

Cheap and unhealthy foods are set to become further entrenched in the Australian diet, according to health experts, who warn the federal government is developing a national food policy with heavy influence from profit-driven food and agriculture industries.

Dr Matt Fisher from the University of Adelaide’s Stretton Institute’s health equity department said the policy could “compromise crucial public health considerations”.

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Guardian Australia wins Walkley award for Indigenous affairs for The Descendants series

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Christopher Hopkins also named the Nikon-Walkley Press Photographer of the Year for work published in Al Jazeera, The Age, and the Guardian

Guardian Australia has won a Walkley award for excellence in journalism for a series on Australians facing the truth of their family’s involvement in frontier violence.

Guardian Australia won the Walkley Indigenous affairs at Thursday night’s ceremony for the The Descendants series, which built on Guardian Australia’s 2019 Walkley award-winning series The Killing Times. The series explored the deeply personal process of truth-telling about some of the most horrific incidents in Australia’s past, from both sides of the frontier.

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John Kerry urges Australia to take ‘hard-nosed’ approach with world’s biggest fossil fuel-producing countries at Cop31

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Exclusive: Former US secretary of state calls for more demanding steps from Australia as it takes over presidency of next year’s UN climate summit

Australia’s government, which will preside over the next UN climate summit, should gather the world’s 25 biggest greenhouse gas emitting countries and push them to draw up a roadmap to end the era of fossil fuels, former US secretary of state John Kerry has said.

Only by “hard-nosed” confrontation with fossil fuel producers, and reducing their consumption in major economies, would the world be able to tackle the climate crisis, he said.

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