Category Archives: Australia news

Funds for Palestinian groups in Australia affected by Gaza war given to media outlets instead

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The diverted money was from $25m allocated for Palestinian, Muslim and other communities affected by Israel-Gaza war

Palestinian advocates say it is “incredibly frustrating” to find out that an Australian government department suggested diverting some promised funding for communities affected by the Israel-Gaza war to media organisations for factchecking.

The government announced last October that it would “support Australian communities affected by the Hamas attacks on Israel and ongoing conflict”, including “$25m to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry Inc (ECAJ) and $25m to Australian Palestinian, Muslim and other communities affected by the conflict”.

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Clare O’Neil promises ‘profound and transformative’ investment to ease housing crisis

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As issue becomes major election battleground, housing minister urges Coalition and Greens to ‘be part of the solution’ amid hold-up of bills in parliament

The new housing and homelessness minister, Clare O’Neil, is “intensely concerned” about the plight of renters and has promised “profound and transformative” investment to alleviate the housing crisis.

But with implementation of Labor’s existing $32bn of commitments a priority, O’Neil is offering more continuity than change in her new portfolio, which she inherited from Julie Collins in the July reshuffle.

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Linda Reynolds tells court ‘I wasn’t her counsellor’ as she defends actions following Brittany Higgins’ alleged rape

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Liberal senator is suing former staffer over social media posts she claims damaged her reputation

Linda Reynolds has told a court that she wasn’t Brittany Higgins’ “counsellor” as she defended her actions after her former staffer’s alleged rape in Parliament House.

The Western Australian Liberal senator has also said she would “still do the same thing today” when asked why she had never offered to listen to Higgins’ experience of the night she was allegedly raped.

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Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html

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Adelaide festival to post 2024 deficit despite $2.3m boost from SA government

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Spokesperson says losses will be revealed in next month’s financials and the festival has access to reserves to fund next year’s program

Australia’s oldest and most prestigious arts festival made a loss in 2024, despite an injection of $2.3m from the South Australian government six months earlier.

Adelaide festival management confirmed on Friday it will post a deficit, just a week after the unexpected departure of its artistic director.

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Linda Reynolds defends actions following Brittany Higgins’ alleged rape – as it happened

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Budgets running on fumes as car costs outpace inflation

High transport costs are fuelling household budget concerns, AAP reports, with research revealing a surge of more than 10% over the course of a year.

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Large number of buyers interested in Rex despite $500m debt

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As private investors circle, Transport Workers Union urges federal government to take equity stake in airline to secure at-risk jobs and shore up routes

A large number of potential buyers have expressed an interest in regional airline Rex as administrators work to keep the embattled carrier flying while weighed down with $500m in debt.

EY Australia has been appointed to chart a path forward for the five companies in the Rex Group since the airline called in the administrators and grounded its Boeing 737 fleet on major metropolitan routes.

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Furniture is getting really expensive. That doesn’t bode well for the Australian economy

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Annual results underline fears cost-of-living pressures will limit spending – including on side tables and lamps – so much that the economy will shift into reverse

What do sales of six-seat modular sofas and matching buffet tables tell us about the financial health of households and the broader economy? Quite a lot, it turns out. And, according to market professionals, it does not look good.

Annual profit at Sydney-headquartered furniture retailer Nick Scali fell almost 20%, according to results released on Friday. Crucially, sales order growth for the past two months has turned negative, down 1.2% from the prior year.

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Ex-Labor senator Fatima Payman appoints ‘preference whisperer’ Glenn Druery as chief of staff

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Druery says Payman could become the next Senate powerbroker in the mould of Nick Xenophon or Brian Harradine

Fatima Payman has appointed Glenn Druery as her chief of staff, as the political strategist and so-called “preference whisperer” suggests the newly independent senator could become the next Senate powerbroker.

Druery’s involvement with Payman was revealed in July, between the Western Australian senator crossing the floor to vote for a Greens motion in the Senate to recognise Palestine and her decision to quit Labor to sit on the crossbench.

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Aukus pact will turn Australia into ‘51st state’ of the US, says Paul Keating

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Former prime minister argues Australia has made itself a target by aligning with American ‘aggression’ towards China

Australia’s participation in the Aukus defence pact risks handing military control of the country to Washington and becoming the “51st state of the United States”, according to former prime minister Paul Keating.

Speaking on ABC’s 7.30 on Thursday night, Keating argued that Australia had made itself a target for aggression by joining the military alliance with the US and the UK in implicit opposition to China’s growing power in the Asia Pacific region.

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Victoria investigates waste facilities over cheap landscaping soil after asbestos found in NSW

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Exclusive: Victorian Environment Protection Authority launches ‘proactive program’ to investigate potential risks from recycled soil fill

Asbestos found in recycled soil at more than half NSW waste facilities

Victoria’s environment watchdog has launched a compliance blitz of waste facilities that produce cheap landscaping soil after a Guardian Australia investigation revealed systemic problems with similar recycled products in New South Wales.

The Victorian Environment Protection Authority (EPA) said it had begun “a proactive program looking at recovered fines” – the cheap soil or sand substitute made from construction and demolition waste residues after larger recyclable materials are removed.

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NSW closes loophole to stamp out fires caused by substandard lithium-ion batteries in ebikes and scooters

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New rules declaring the popular devices a form of transport mean the batteries must meet strict international product standards

New South Wales is cracking down on the sale of some ebikes and e-scooters in a nationwide first aimed at reducing the scourge of battery-related fires, while pushing for a nationally coordinated approach to the growing problem.

Low quality ebikes and e-scooters have contributed to a spate of fires across the country, with lithium-ion batteries now the fastest growing cause of fires in the state.

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Corruption commissioner Paul Brereton removed himself from robodebt referrals due to ‘relationship’, documents show

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FoI documents show head of Nacc delegated decision not to pursue investigations into six individuals to a deputy commissioner

The National Anti-Corruption commissioner, Paul Brereton, removed himself from the process that decided whether the watchdog should pursue individuals referred by the robodebt royal commission due to a “relationship” and “close association” with a person he anticipated would be referred.

Documents released under freedom of information provide the first clues as to the nature of the conflict, which was disclosed but not explained when the Nacc opted not to pursue any of the people referred by the royal commission for potential investigation.

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Australian kestrels may hold the key to helping drones hover

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The wind hovering behaviour of the bird of prey is the ‘closest representation in the avian world to fixed wing aircraft’, says researcher

When researchers were hunting for a way to make drones fly more smoothly as they delivered food and packages, they turned to an unusual source for inspiration: the common kestrel.

RMIT and the University of Bristol researchers began tracking the flight motions of two Australian kestrels. They attached reflective markers to the birds and analysed their motion using a motion tracking system – the same technology used to create CGI effects.

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‘Too high for comfort’: transport costs rising at almost three times rate of inflation, data reveals

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Households ‘hurting’ as people forced to spend more of their income on driving, petrol, tolls and public transport fares

Australians are being forced to spend more of their income on transport, with spending on driving, petrol, tolls and public transport fares growing at almost three times the rate of inflation, new data reveals.

In the 12 months to 30 June, transport costs rose by 10.5% across the board, well above the CPI increase of 3.8% over the same period, the latest Australian Automobile Association’s (AAA) transport affordability index showed.

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Employee at NT school for Indigenous children charged after allegedly assaulting six students

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The 46-year-old man allegedly assaulted the students at a school on multiple separate occasions in 2023

A senior employee at a renowned independent Northern Territory school for Indigenous children has been charged over alleged historical assaults on multiple students.

NT police arrested the 46-year-old man on Thursday over aggravated assaults at the school in Alice Springs. He has been charged with five counts of aggravated assault.

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Australia news live: Linda Reynolds deleted some text messages with Bruce Lehmann’s barrister during routine ‘cyber hygiene’, defamation trial hears

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The prime minister was asked about criticism that increased public spending is fuelling inflation.

Anthony Albanese pointed to two budget surpluses and said this, plus cost-of-living measures, are applying downward pressure:

Fee-free Tafe, cheaper childcare, energy price relief – all of these measures are aimed at making sure we look after people but do so in a way that’s designed to see inflation continuing to moderate, which is what we want to make sure happens.

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Victorian government rejects expert advice to forcibly merge hospital services

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Premier Jacinta Allan says reduction of 76 services to 11 ‘not in the best interests of patient care’ despite lure of reduced costs

The Victorian government will ignore a central recommendation of an expert panel to forcibly merge hospital services – which was expected to improve patient care and reduce costs – but has vowed to find savings in other ways.

The premier, Jacinta Allan, and health minister, Mary-Anne Thomas, on Thursday released a long-awaited report on the Victoria’s public health system.

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Facebook and Google shouldn’t ‘ride free’ on the backs of media companies, Albanese says

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PM’s comments raise expectation of levy on Meta and social media firms amid stoush over paying for news content

Social media companies shouldn’t “essentially ride free” on the backs of traditional media, Anthony Albanese has said, when asked about the possibility of a levy after Meta’s decision to not renew media funding deals.

The prime minister’s comments raise expectations Labor will intervene to secure the revenue base of cash-strapped traditional media companies, which have lobbied for help due to losing funding from social media and the government’s intention to ban gambling ads online and apply caps to them on television.

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Wieambilla killers ‘rocked’ police vehicle with bullets in response to surrender pleas, inquest hears

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The Trains used high-calibre guns to engage in firefight as police tried to negotiate, responder tells coroner

A family of killers were “robotic” in response to efforts to get them to surrender, continuing to fire at police vehicles, an inquest into the Wieambilla massacre has heard.

Sert operative 114, a team leader of the police Special Emergency Response Team (Sert), described how an armoured BearCat vehicle was “rocked” as a volley of accurate gunfire hit the windscreen, which was bullet resistant but not bulletproof.

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‘She looked lifeless’: teen tells court father used axe to kill Nelomie Perera in Melbourne home

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Son of Dinush Kurera, who has pleaded not guilty to wife’s murder, gives evidence in supreme court trial

A teen has told a Melbourne court that his father allegedly repeatedly slashed his mother with an axe “in a rage” and then turned the weapon on him when he tried to run for help.

Dinush Kurera’s 19-year-old son gave evidence to the Victorian supreme court on Thursday about the evening his father allegedly murdered his mother in their family home.

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