Category Archives: Australia news

Pleas for urgent reset of Australia’s child abuse redress scheme unanswered 18 months after damning review

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Coalition committed to respond in ‘early 2022’ but failed to do so, while Labor has not issued a full response since taking office

Successive governments have failed to produce a response to a damning review of the child abuse redress scheme published 18 months ago, missing a self-imposed deadline by at least five months despite the review’s pleas for urgency.

The national redress scheme, established in the wake of the 2017 child abuse royal commission, has been operating for four years, offering capped amounts of compensation to survivors of institutional child sexual abuse.

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Queensland to allow granny flats to be rented as urgent fix for housing crisis

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Premier says many cheaper rentals will now hit the market, helping thousands of people across the state

A change to planning rules to allow Queenslanders to rent out their granny flats will increase affordable housing stocks, the state government says.

Restrictions on who can live in granny flats will be removed so secondary dwellings can be rented on the open market, the premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, announced on Friday.

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ACT urges Tanya Plibersek to quash defence housing plan that would destroy critically endangered grasslands

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Defence Housing Australia wants to clear nearly 16 hectares of natural temperate grassland in Canberra’s north-west

The ACT government has urged the federal environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, to reject a defence housing development that would destroy critically endangered grasslands in Canberra’s north-west.

Defence Housing Australia (DHA) has proposed building hundreds of houses on an old naval transmission site in the suburb of Lawson.

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Nearly 200 stranded pilot whales die on Tasmanian beach but dozens saved and returned to sea

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Rescue efforts are continuing for the 35 surviving whales on Ocean Beach near Strahan after the second mass stranding to occur in Australia in two days

Nearly 200 stranded pilot whales have died on Tasmania’s west coast, but rescuers successfully returned 32 animals to deeper water on Thursday.

A pod of about 230 pilot whales became stranded on Wednesday on Ocean Beach, west of Strahan. Some were also stranded on a sand flat inside Macquarie Harbour, south of the town.

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NSW levy on ride-hailing and taxi passengers extended until 2029

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Levy to compensate taxi licence holders for disruption of the industry by Uber forms part of $645m in payments as industry faces complete deregulation

NSW ride-hailing and taxi passengers will pay levies for another two years – until June 2029 – as taxi licence owners move a step closer to securing further compensation.

The government has outlined its plan to deliver a further $500m to licence holders, on top of $145m already doled out, as part of plans for the complete deregulation of the industry.

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Customers’ personal data stolen as Optus suffers massive cyber-attack

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Personal information of potentially millions of customers exposed, including names, dates of birth, addresses, and contact details

Optus has suffered a massive cyber-attack, with the personal information of customers stolen, including names, dates of birth, addresses, and contact details.

The telco suffered the data breach when hackers, believed to be working for a criminal or state-sponsored organisation, accessed the sensitive information by breaking through the company’s firewall.

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Australia may expel Russian ambassador after Putin’s nuclear aggression, Penny Wong says

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Foreign minister condemns Russia’s heightened military response in Ukraine as opposition calls for further sanctions

The foreign minister, Penny Wong, says the federal government is considering expelling the Russian ambassador as a result of President Vladimir Putin’s nuclear aggression towards Ukraine, as the Coalition opposition steps up calls for further sanctions over the invasion.

Wong said Australia is considering sending further military assistance to Kyiv in the face of Russia’s escalating rhetoric but security and logistical issues were complicating factors.

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Severe weather causes major flight disruptions at Sydney airport ahead of AFL grand final weekend

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Approximately 40 flights due to land in or depart Sydney were cancelled on Thursday morning, leading to cancellations in Melbourne

Hundreds of people have had their travel plans thrown into chaos as high winds and heavy rainfall led airlines to cancel dozens of flights in and out of Sydney airport in the lead-up to the AFL grand final.

Approximately 40 flights due to land in or depart from Sydney were cancelled on Thursday morning, leading to knock-on cancellations in Melbourne, as severe weather warnings were issued by the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) for heavy falls and thunderstorms across New South Wales’ east coast.

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Thorpe leads protest in Melbourne – as it happened

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Q: Is an external review now the precedent for anyone at other clubs who may come forward with similar allegations?

McLachlan:

Our integrity team is investigating many things concurrently. I think it depends on the nature of the allegation and the particular circumstance. But that’s certainly what we felt was warranted here. And I hope that history says that all allegations will be taken seriously and investigated thoroughly and confidentially.

And that’s the challenging part about this, that these courageous people have come forward and now there’s a huge spotlight on them. And I hope it doesn’t deter them to lean in on this and have that conviction to tell their stories to this independent panel so that we can get to the bottom of this.

I spoke to our senior Indigenous players last night. Eddie was on the call. Shaun Burgoyne was there, and Shane Edwards and Steven May and Neville Jetta and others.

And what was confronting for them – and I think they’d be happy for me to talk about this – Burgoyne was there right through this period, and was confronted and challenged he didn’t see any sign of this. I know that was weighing heavily on him.

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Implement pre-court diversion for drug users now, author of NSW ice inquiry urges

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Prof Dan Howard says he’s ‘puzzled’ it took the government nearly three years to agree to such modest changes in policing

The author of a landmark inquiry into crystal methamphetamine (“ice”) addiction in New South Wales has warned the government’s commitment to expand pre-court diversion for drug users in the state could be pushed into “the never-never” if it is not implemented by the March election.

On Wednesday the NSW government released its long-awaited response to Prof Dan Howard’s 14-month inquiry into drug addiction in NSW, committing to spending $500m on expanded treatment services and justice initiatives.

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Murray-Darling Basin plan on the brink after NSW says it cannot meet water savings deadline

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Failure infuriates other states and may force Tanya Plibersek to impose highly controversial buybacks

New South Wales will seek an exemption from its obligations to deliver the final stage of the Murray-Darling Basin plan, a move that could leave the environment short-changed millions of litres of water.

NSW will not meet a June 2024 deadline to deliver the last 25% of water savings of the plan, to be achieved through water-saving projects.

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Victoria’s child protection database missing hundreds of children’s addresses, review finds

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‘How are you supposed to help kids if you literally don’t know where they live?’ asks opposition

The addresses of hundreds of vulnerable children and young people are missing from the Victorian government’s child protection database, according to a report by the state’s auditor general.

The report, tabled in parliament on Wednesday, found the IT system used by the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) was “incomplete, inaccurate and inconsistent” and “does not readily give the most current and complete information on vulnerable Victorian children”.

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Daniel Andrews is on track for a third term in Victoria, but risks losing ground in safe seats

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Labor is likely to secure a rare third parliamentary term, but departing MPs warn it will lose support for parachuting in non-local candidates

The 59th parliament of Victoria has been anything but boring. In the past two years there’s been a leadership spill, a finding of branch stacking, a catastrophic fall down slippery steps, a drunken car crash, dozens of protests, Covid-19 outbreaks, resignations, defections, a visit from a lamb in a diaper and a resident fox – and that’s without mentioning the work that goes on inside the building.

Having wrapped up the final sitting week on Wednesday – dumping 52 documents on the way out, including a scathing auditor general report on the suburban rail loop – Daniel Andrews will now begin campaigning for a third term in office.

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Rescuers rush to save hundreds of pilot whales stranded on Tasmanian beach

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Marine wildlife experts are assessing the scene near Strahan – the same location as Australia’s worst mass stranding exactly two years ago

Rescuers and marine conservationists have rushed to Tasmania’s west coast as efforts continue to save pilot whales after a mass stranding near the remote town of Strahan.

On Wednesday, a pod of about 230 pilot whales became stranded on Ocean beach, west of Strahan. Some were also stranded on a sand flat inside Macquarie harbour, south of the town. At least 100 of the animals are thought to have died.

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Australia news live updates: Alastair Clarkson to ‘delay start’ of North Melbourne tenure following Hawthorn racism review

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Severe weather warning for central NSW

Central NSW is bracing for further potential flooding with severe weather warnings in place, AAP reports.

With more weather coming from Wednesday we are concerned and are reminding the community to make sensible smart decisions when travelling at the moment.

Voters have shifted in favour of the status quo when asked to decide a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question on a republic at a time of global attention on the Queen’s funeral and the transition to King Charles, shattering the narrow majority for change revealed in a similar survey in January.

The exclusive findings show that only one state, Victoria, would back a republic and would do so with a tiny majority of 50.2%, dooming a referendum to failure and repeating the rejection of the 1999 attempt to amend the Constitution.

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Tiwi Islanders win court battle with Santos over drilling in traditional waters

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Gas company’s approval set aside after Justice Mordecai Bromberg found the regulator did not consult properly with traditional owners

Tiwi Islanders have won a landmark case against drilling for gas by Santos in their traditional waters after complaining that the company failed to consult them about the impact of the project.

On Wednesday, judge Mordecai Bromberg set aside approval for the drilling, part of Santos’s $4.7bn Barossa project and gave Santos two weeks to shut down and remove its rig from the sea north of Melville Island.

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Bacchus Marsh school bus crash: four people seriously injured after collision with truck near Melbourne

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Dozens more in hospital after bus carrying students from Loreto College in Ballarat hit a truck and rolled down an embankment

Passengers on a school bus have “miraculously” survived crashing down an embankment after their vehicle was hit from behind by a truck on a highway west of Melbourne, police say.

The bus was slowing down to avoid an earlier crash when it was hit, leading to two teenage girls and two adults being seriously injured.

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Woman asked friend to say she was still with ex-boyfriend found dead in woodchipper, court told

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Brisbane supreme court hears Sharon Graham asked a friend to claim she was in a relationship with Bruce Saunders ‘because of the insurance’

After Bruce Saunders was retrieved from a woodchipper, Sharon Graham asked a friend to claim she was still with her ex-partner “because of the insurance”, a court has been told.

Graham, 61, and Gregory Lee Roser, 63, have pleaded not guilty to murder after Saunders, 54, died while working on a property north of Brisbane in November 2017.

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Gunnedah residents criticise flood response as region braces for more rain

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Families in NSW Liverpool Plains say authorities did not warn everyone before recent flooding

Residents of Gunnedah on the New South Wales Liverpool Plains are appalled by the lack of preparation, warnings and response from authorities to Sunday’s Namoi River flood, as they brace for another deluge.

Julie Shields, who lives on the north-west end of Bloomfield Street, started the Gunnedah Flood Information and Support Facebook group last December, after being disappointed in the response to Gunnedah’s November 2021 flood.

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AFL greats shocked at Hawthorn report into alleged racism

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Luke Hodge, Sam Mitchell and Shaun Burgoyne react to allegations First Nations players were mistreated

Hawthorn greats Sam Mitchell, Luke Hodge and Shaun Burgoyne have expressed shock at allegations First Nations players were mistreated by the club, including distressing claims they were separated from their families.

The ABC on Wednesday reported the contents of a Hawthorn-commissioned review based on interviews with First Nations players, with the ABC’s report including an allegation that Hawthorn pressured one couple to terminate a pregnancy.

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