Category Archives: Australia news

Indigenous group says Tanya Plibersek ‘hasn’t done her homework’ on Burrup peninsula fertiliser plant

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Save Our Songlines accuses environment minister of ‘false conclusions’ and ‘faulty reasoning’ about support for development and says it risks ‘another Juukan Gorge’

Traditional custodians opposed to a contentious $4.5bn fertiliser plant on Western Australia’s Burrup peninsula have accused Tanya Plibersek of “faulty reasoning” and drawing “false conclusions” about the views of local Aboriginal communities after she decided not to pause the development.

The environment minister decided work on the plant could go ahead after visiting the peninsula, in the state’s north, earlier this month. She said her decision was based on support for the development from the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation, which she described as the “legally constituted and democratically elected group that safeguards First Nations culture in the Burrup area”.

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Radioactive rock at Randwick Girls High ‘no cause for alarm’, NSW inquiry told

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Education minister Sarah Mitchell tells budget estimates that ‘no harm was posed’ by the 17 August find at Sydney school

A radioactive rock that was found at a Sydney high school did not pose a danger to students or staff, the New South Wales education minister, Sarah Mitchell, has told a budget estimates hearing.

Mitchell was questioned on Tuesday about the radioactive substance that was found at Randwick Girls High in Sydney’s east on 17 August.

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‘Too much to lose’ in Santos gas project off Tiwi Islands, marine ranger tells court

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Federal court hearing on the islands, north of Darwin, told a spill would mean ‘everything ends up dead’ in delicate marine ecosystem

A large gas project off the Tiwi Islands could threaten a vulnerable turtle species and disrupt a thriving ecosystem of fish, a marine ranger has told the federal court.

Tiwi Islander Dennis Tipakalippa is challenging the decision to allow Santos to drill eight wells in the Barossa gas field, 265km north-west of Darwin.

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North Queensland man charged with torture and murder of five-year-old boy

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Police arrested 24-year-old man following tip-off about the boy’s transfer to Townsville hospital from an Indigenous community

A man has been charged with torturing and murdering a five-year-old boy he knew in an Indigenous community in far north Queensland.

The child died from his injuries in Townsville hospital on Monday after doctors had tried to save him for five days.

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Australia’s rabbit invasion traced back to single importation of 24 animals in 1859, study finds

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Population then exploded in what researches say was ‘the fastest colonisation rate for an introduced mammal ever recorded’

The Australia-wide rabbit invasion resulted from a single introduction of just 24 animals in 1859, new research has confirmed.

Using historical and genetic data, scientists have pinpointed the origins of what they call “the fastest colonisation rate for an introduced mammal ever recorded”.

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Anti-aircraft noise campaigners to target shareholders in bid for Brisbane airport curfew

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Independent review recommends moving flight paths to alleviate noise concerns but disgruntled residents want solutions sooner

Anti-aircraft noise campaigners say they will target investors in Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) as they threaten to ramp up efforts to force a curfew and cap on flights over the city.

Aircraft noise was the defining local issue at the federal election for many who live under flight paths that emerged when the Brisbane airport opened its second runway in mid-2020, playing a role in the election of Greens MPs in three inner-city seats.

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Tanya Plibersek backs contentious fertiliser plant on Burrup peninsula

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Federal environment minister says Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation supports development despite concerns over impact on culturally important sites

The federal environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, has ruled a controversial $4.5bn fertiliser plant near ancient rock art on Western Australia’s Burrup peninsula can go ahead after being told it had the support of a local Aboriginal corporation.

Work on the development had stopped after Save Our Songlines, a separate traditional owners organisation opposed to the project, asked the minister to protect five culturally important sites, including petroglyphs. Three of the five are due to be moved during construction.

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‘Free riders’: NSW unions want to charge non-members for pay rises they broker

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Exclusive: Peak body also wants employers to pay skilled visa applicants 30% above median wage to encourage local training instead

Non-union workers would be forced to pay fees for union pay deals while the requirement to advertise jobs domestically, before sponsoring foreign workers, would be abolished in favour of a higher wage floor, under two proposals by Unions NSW.

Under the plan employers could be forced to pay a skilled visa applicant 30% above the industry median wage before sponsoring an offshore worker, a move designed to incentivise training Australians.

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Cost of abortions causing Queensland women to consider self-harm, study reveals

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More than 40% of women seeking help from pregnancy counselling service had exposure to family or intimate partner violence

Queensland women are self-harming and searching for pills on the black market to induce abortions as they face chronic delays, financial pressures and a lack of support from healthcare providers, a new study has found.

The University of Queensland study published in the CSIRO’s Sexual Health journal analysed almost 2,000 anonymous client records from the pregnancy counselling service Children by Choice between December 2018 and June 2020.

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Struggle to find bulk billing clinics for children prompts fears vaccination rates will fall

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Poorer families set to be hit most, expert says, while single mothers routinely neglect their own medical needs to afford children’s care

As more GP clinics abandon or significantly reduce bulk billing, parents and carers say it is becoming harder to find a clinic that routinely bulk bills children.

In response to Guardian Australia’s series on the bulk billing crisis, more than 300 people shared their stories of how health care costs are adding pressure to family budgets on top of the rising costs of living.

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Australia news live: Greens seek to reconvene Senate committee into former Australia Post CEO Christine Holgate’s dismissal

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Departments – not politicians – should decide government grant recipients, Grattan Institute recommends

The Grattan Institute has a very timely report out today with a plan to end pork barrelling, which calls for departments rather than ministers to make the call on who receives grants.

Ministers should be able to establish grant programs and define the selection criteria, but they should not be involved in choosing grant recipients.

Shortlisting and selecting grant recipients is an administrative function for the relevant department or agency. Ministers should have bigger fish to fry.

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Queensland police commissioner’s evidence to inquiry sparks new call for submissions

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Commission examining responses to domestic violence says Katarina Carroll’s appearance led to ‘further communications’ from officers

Queensland’s commission of inquiry into police responses to domestic violence has unexpectedly reopened submissions to the public, citing the reaction to evidence given by the state’s police commissioner as a driver for the decision.

Queensland’s police commissioner, Katarina Carroll, was interrogated for more than eight hours at a public hearing in Brisbane last week after she initially declined an invitation to attend.

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Woman sues Aldi after she was injured in ‘special buys’ rush for discount TVs

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Court documents allege supermarket in Victoria did not have crowd control and encouraged a ‘sense of urgency’ among customers

A woman is taking legal action against Aldi after she was injured at a Victorian store last year amid a “special buys” frenzy involving discounted TVs.

The 73-year-old, who wishes to remain anonymous, is seeking compensation after she was allegedly struck by another customer’s trolley and knocked to the ground during the heavily promoted sale at the Corio store in August 2021.

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Sydney’s Star casino ordered to pay $285,000 jackpot to disabled man after withholding 2019 win

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Judge says Star must also pay $35,000 interest, ruling casino’s failure to initially pay out win was ‘misconceived and breached the contract’ of wager

A $285,000 jackpot won by a disabled man with the assistance of a previously banned gambler at Star casino in Sydney must be paid out in full, a court has ruled.

David Joe on Friday was awarded almost $320,000 including interest in the district court, which found the casino illegally refused to hand over a jackpot won in October 2019.

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Former Australia captain Tim Paine in training ahead of return to cricket

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  • Wicketkeeper-batter training with Tasmania’s state team
  • Paine has not played since November last year

Tim Paine could be back playing in Tasmania in six weeks as Australia’s former Test captain prepares for his cricket comeback. Paine is training with Tasmania’s state squad as an uncontracted player as he plots a return for the first time since losing the Test captaincy in a sexting controversy.

The 37-year-old took time away from the sport after standing down as Test skipper in November last year. He never retired but was not contracted on Tasmania’s playing roster for this summer.

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Brisbane man shot twice by officers as children hid in bushes, police say

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The 43-year-old was allegedly armed with a sharpening file when he was shot outside home

A man will undergo surgery after being shot twice by a Queensland police officer he had allegedly lunged at with a large metal sharpening file during a “horrible incident” at a house in Brisbane’s south.

Queensland police said the 43-year-old’s wife and four sons – aged seven to 14 – were at home during the confrontation on Sunday night.

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Conflict in South China Sea would threaten 90% of Australia’s fuel imports

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The country would run out within two months of a major disruption. Here are five ways to reduce vulnerability

China’s sabre-rattling about Taiwan underlines the need for Australia to be prepared for conflict in the South China Sea.

With its growing navy and air force, and the bases it has built throughout the area, China is increasingly capable of disrupting shipping lanes crucial to Australia’s exports and imports.

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NSW detects first locally acquired cases of monkeypox amid concerns about vaccine shortage

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Health authorities are urging the public to remain ‘vigilant’ for symptoms as the state recorded three cases of community transmission on Sunday

The first locally acquired cases of monkeypox have been detected in New South Wales, placing health authorities on alert amid a global vaccine shortage.

The state recorded three additional cases of monkeypox on Sunday, bringing the total caseload to 42. They included one case that acquired their infection in NSW and two cases that picked up the virus “within Australia”.

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South Australia’s Flinders Ranges nominated for Unesco world heritage status

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Dubbed a ‘great outdoor museum’, the fossil-rich region will be assessed by the World Heritage Centre, a process expected to take another two years

South Australia’s iconic and fossil-rich Flinders Ranges is one step closer to being declared one of Australia’s natural wonders on the Unesco World Heritage List.

The area has been nominated for a tentative listing as a world heritage site, on behalf of the South Australian government and the area’s traditional owners, the Adnyamathanha people.

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Barnaby Joyce: the most perplexing contradictions in his account of the Morrison ministry scandal

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Repeated questioning of Nationals leader over when he knew about Morrison taking on resources portfolio provided confusing results

Barnaby Joyce was asked on Sunday what he knew, didn’t know and didn’t want to know about Scott Morrison’s additional powers.

The answers were hard to follow, to say the least. The former deputy prime minister said he kinda knew Morrison had appointed himself as resources minister and taken over the decision of the controversial Pep-11 gas licence off the NSW coast, but he also didn’t know.

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