Category Archives: Australia news

Bank Australia to ditch fossil fuel car loans in push for EV future

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Announcement at national electric vehicle summit comes as climate change minister seeks input on national EV strategy

An Australian bank will stop offering loans for new fossil fuel cars from 2025 in a step it says will encourage more people to buy electric vehicles.

The customer-owned Bank Australia will announce the self-imposed ban at a national EV summit in Canberra on Friday, arguing it is a responsible step to ensure its lending practices did not “lock our customers into higher carbon emissions and increasingly expensive running costs”.

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‘Unethical’ for GPs to charge to prescribe Covid antivirals, Australian charity says

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Council on the Ageing says doctors who charge consultation fee for prescription for older people should be called out

Failing to bulk bill pensioners who require life-saving Covid-19 antivirals is “morally bankrupt” and “unethical”, the head of the national peak body for older Australians has said.

The Council on the Ageing chief executive, Ian Yates, said as growing numbers of general practitioners stop bulk billing, citing rising costs and low Medicare rebates, he is hearing “more and more examples of pensioners not being bulk-billed, especially people with the seniors healthcare card.”

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Timor-Leste warns it will work with China if Australia insists on pumping Timor Sea gas to Darwin

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Exclusive: President José Ramos-Horta says his country’s leadership ‘has to make decisions … if necessary a trip to China’

Timor-Leste’s president, José Ramos-Horta, has warned his nation will seek Chinese support if Australia and Woodside Energy fail to back a gas pipeline between the resource-rich Timor Sea and his country’s southern shore, rather than Darwin.

Ramos-Horta has warned Timor-Leste – Australia’s neighbour and ally – would “absolutely” look to Chinese investment to secure what he says is the “national strategic goal” of piping gas from the Greater Sunrise fields to his nation’s coast. The comments are likely to heighten concerns about Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific.

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Follow the sun: where to holiday to escape Australia’s third La Niña

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Parts of Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania are less likely to see wet weather heading into the warmer months

Australia may be about to experience a rare third La Niña this spring, but the outlook is sunnier – literally – for parts of Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania.

The Bureau of Meteorology issued an alert on Tuesday for above-average rainfall through to December for around two-thirds of the nation, including the east coast, due to a negative Indian Ocean dipole and warmer than average waters in Australia’s north.

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Australia news live: John Howard criticises lack of detail on voice to parliament as Anthony Albanese arrives in Torres Strait

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The former prime minister has spoken at a National Press Club event at the Canberra Writers Festival

‘Cringeworthy’: energy minister says Morrison’s media conference was embarrassing

Circling back to Chris Bowen’s interview on ABC Radio, where the discussion on climate policy was followed by questions on the biggest story in Canberra – Scott Morrison’s secret appointment to five additional ministries.

I think to be fair that the governor general was in a difficult position, he has to accept the advice of the government or the PM of the day.

It was pretty pathetic, embarrassing and cringeworthy to be honest.

He should call Andrews.

The right thing to do would be to call all ministers concerned.

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Queensland’s police commissioner declined an initial invitation to appear at domestic violence inquiry

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Inquiry hears Katarina Carroll was asked if summons was needed for her to appear

Queensland’s police commissioner, Katarina Carroll, rejected an invitation to appear at an inquiry into police responses to domestic violence, prompting the commission to ask if they needed to issue a summons for her to attend.

During a hearing on Thursday, counsel assisting the inquiry, Ruth O’Gorman, said the commission first asked Carroll to give evidence on 4 August after they “formed concerns about lack of resourcing” after the testimony of assistant police commissioner Brian Codd.

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NRL grand final to be played in Sydney, ending NSW and Queensland battle for event

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  • Game returns to Olympic stadium after year away in Brisbane
  • ARLC chair Peter V’landys touts future ‘Super Bowl’ concept

This year’s NRL grand final will be played in New South Wales after the Australian Rugby League Commission confirmed October’s showpiece event would be played at Sydney’s Accor Stadium.

But the long-term location of the game remains uncertain, with ARLC chair Peter V’landys touting a “Super Bowl” style concept, where the game could be taken around the country to the highest bidder.

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Scott Morrison apologises to Karen Andrews over secret portfolios following Coalition pressure

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Peter Dutton says former PM’s decision to have himself secretly sworn in to five ministries was the ‘wrong call’

Scott Morrison has apologised to the former home affairs minister Karen Andrews for secretly swearing himself in to her portfolio, after she revealed he hadn’t previously reached out to her in the wake of the growing scandal.

The apology came after the opposition leader Peter Dutton said Morrison made “the wrong call” by secretly taking on five ministerial portfolios, with the Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie claiming Morrison’s actions may have breached the Coalition agreement.

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Russia considering legal action after Canberra lease on new Australian embassy site terminated

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Lease terminated under ‘use it or lose it’ policy after Russian government failed to complete building within three years

The Russian government says it is considering legal action against a federal authority after it was ordered off the site of its new embassy in Canberra.

On Wednesday, the National Capital Authority said it had terminated the Russian embassy’s lease over a block of land in Yarralumla, a wealthy lakeside suburb in Canberra, and ordered it to clear the site within 20 days.

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Misfiring Nick Kyrgios bows out in Cincinnati after heavy defeat to Taylor Fritz

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  • Australian loses 6-3, 6-2 after winning 16 of his last 18 matches
  • Alex de Minaur also tamed 6-3, 6-2 by Felix Auger-Aliassime

Taylor Fritz blasted his way to a 6-3, 6-2 win over Australian Nick Kyrgios on Wednesday and a place in the Cincinnati Open third round. In a clash of big servers, it was the American No 1 who came out on top, sending down 16 aces against a misfiring Kyrgios who hit just seven and offset most of those with six double faults.

The 11th-seeded Fritz needed just 51 minutes to condemn Australian Kyrgios to his second defeat since losing to Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final. Such was Fritz’s domination on serve that Kyrgios could not muster a single break opportunity the entire match while the 24-year-old American converted three of his seven chances.

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Indonesian boys wrongly imprisoned by Australia ask attorney general for new appeal

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Exclusive: Lawyers for two Indonesian children wrongly jailed for people smuggling ask Mark Dreyfus to refer case for appeal, calling Christian Porter’s ruling on the case a ‘mockery of justice’

Two Indonesian children who were imprisoned as adult people smugglers using deeply flawed evidence have asked attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, to use his mercy powers and resolve the “mockery of justice” overseen by his predecessor Christian Porter.

Earlier this year, Guardian Australia used a trove of internal documents to reveal how federal police had placed fictitious dates of birth on sworn legal documents to prosecute eight Indonesian children as adult people smugglers, relying on a wrist X-ray age assessment technique they knew at the time to be questionable.

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Airbnb to use ‘anti-party technology’ to crack down on rowdy guests

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Bookings to be judged by factors such as reviews and length of trips, after Australia pilot

Airbnb says it will deploy “anti-party technology” in an effort to crack down on guests who trash houses they have booked with massive bashes.

The technology, which has been trialled in Australia, will look at “factors like history of positive reviews (or lack of positive reviews), length of time the guest has been on Airbnb, length of the trip, distance to the listing, weekend vs weekday, among many others” to determine whether a particular booking was likely to be intended for hosting a party, the company said. It will initially be used in the US and Canada, and will continue to operate in Australia.

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Defiant Morrison resists pressure to resign as governor general says he thought powers would be made public

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David Hurley says not his job to publicise former PM’s extra appointments and he had ‘no reason to believe’ they would remain secret

Scott Morrison says he will not resign from federal parliament after his five secret ministry self-appointments were revealed, defending his decision to keep those ministries concealed because he says he never exercised the powers he had.

Morrison, at a press conference in Sydney on Wednesday afternoon, struck a defiant tone and said he would remain as the member for Cook, despite growing calls from some even inside his own party for him to quit.

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Dungowan Dam likely dead in the water after Infrastructure Australia deems proposal low priority

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Costs of dam project championed by Barnaby Joyce to secure water for Tamworth ‘far outweigh the benefits’, assessment says

The proposal to build a new Dungowan Dam in Barnaby Joyce’s seat of New England at a cost of $1.27bn appears to be dead after Infrastructure Australia delivered a scathing assessment.

The project, which was promoted by the former National party leader as a way to secure the water supply for Tamworth, in New South Wales, had originally been costed at $433m, with the Morrison government promising to contribute $242m.

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Ten glaring inconsistencies in Scott Morrison’s bamboozling press conference

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While attempting to explain why he appointed himself to five ministries in secret, the former PM raised more questions than answers

In Scott Morrison’s mind, he did nothing wrong by awarding himself the powers of the health, finance, treasury, home affairs and resources portfolios like some sort of ghostly understudy. He did what he had to do, and he saved Australia. That was the gist of his hour-long Wednesday press conference. But as always there are inconsistencies, half answers and questions which remain, despite the bluster. Here are the most glaring.

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Explainer: how much money would shelving the suburban rail loop save Victoria?

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$34.5bn railway – labelled the biggest public transport project in state’s history – set to feature heavily in election campaign

The suburban rail loop is set to become one of the big talking points of the Victorian state election campaign after the opposition leader, Matthew Guy, said he would shelve stage one in favour of spending on health.

Here’s everything you need to know about the project.

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Hurley says he had ‘no reason to believe’ extra ministries would be kept secret – as it happened

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Victoria’s opposition has pledged to scrap the suburban rail loop, described as the biggest transport project in the state’s history, with “every cent” of the $34.5bn saved to be invested in the health system if elected in November.

The commitment, made 101 days before voters go to the polls, sets the stage for another election turned referendum on infrastructure.

This November, Victorians face a clear choice. A choice between immediately rebuilding Victoria’s broken health system, or a train line in 13 years’ time.

As premier, my first priority will be to fix the health crisis.

So I think he himself, in reflecting on it, he has to come to the opinion that it probably wasn’t a good move. And, and on that issue, I agree with him.

If he did do something illegal, if he received some form of pecuniary benefit, if someone closely related to you get some for of pecuniary benefit, they failed to disclose, then yeah, you can pack up your bongos and get out of there.

But if something is legal, and you complied with the law even though people might not agree with that mightn’t be basically customary, or, as you would say, something you’ve done it in a way that’s annoying, you’ve done it in a way that has got people off side, but it’s not illegal. It’s not illegal.

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Matthew Guy pledges to shelve $34.5bn rail project to invest in healthcare

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Victorian election battle takes shape as opposition leader says fixing the ‘broken health system’ must be prioritised

Victoria’s opposition has pledged to shelve the Suburban Rail Loop, described as the biggest transport project in the state’s history, if elected in November and reinvest the $34.5bn cost of the first stage in the health system.

The state’s opposition leader, Matthew Guy, made the announcement to halt work on the first 26km of the project on Wednesday, 101 days before voters go to the polls, setting the stage for another election turned referendum on infrastructure.

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Unions and employers agree 40,000 more migrants a year needed to fill Australia’s skills shortage

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Consensus on migration and increasing subsidies for apprentices could pave way for policy reform at government’s jobs and skills summit

Unions and employers have agreed Australia should lift its migration intake by 40,000 annually to help fill skills shortages and demanded a boost to apprentice subsidies.

The consensus suggests the Albanese government could secure broad support for some policy reform at its jobs and skills summit in September, although the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Acci) will use a major speech on Wednesday to reject more ambitious union requests.

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Push for parliament’s privileges committee to probe Scott Morrison over ministerial appointments

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Greens senator David Shoebridge and independent MP Sophie Scamps among those calling for investigation of former PM

There is a growing push for Scott Morrison to be investigated by parliament’s powerful privileges committee over his decision to secretly appoint himself to five additional ministerial portfolios.

The Greens’ legal affairs spokesperson, Senator David Shoebridge, and the independent MP Sophie Scamps have both said the privileges committee should investigate Morrison. Fellow independents Zali Steggall and Kate Chaney think a referral should be considered.

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