Category Archives: Australia news

Greens urge Labor to reject international carbon offsets as ‘accounting tricks’

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Adam Bandt says allowing global offsets to be traded along with Australian ones would just delay action to cut emissions

The Greens have called on the Albanese government to reject advice that Australia should allow greater use of international carbon offsets, arguing it would delay cuts in greenhouse gas emissions locally.

A review of international offsets by the Climate Change Authority, a policy advisory body, urged the government to develop a carbon market strategy as a step towards allowing international carbon offsets to be traded along with Australian carbon credits.

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Clive Palmer ordered to pay part of Mark McGowan’s legal costs; 87 more Covid deaths – As it happened

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Federal court orders Palmer to pay undetermined sum in half of defamation proceedings between the pair; Senator Jim Molan calls for National Press Club not to host Chinese government officials. This blog is now closed

ACT warns of scam health texts

ACT Health says it has been made aware of scam text messages claiming to be services such as HealthDirect or Medicare.

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Clive Palmer ordered to pay part of Mark McGowan’s legal costs after defamation battle

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Billionaire’s costs will not similarly be paid by WA premier, as judge finds ‘asymmetry of responsibility’ for ‘long and costly’ case

Clive Palmer has been ordered to pay part of Mark McGowan’s legal costs while the Western Australian premier will pay none of the billionaire’s, despite the federal court finding they both defamed each other.

On Thursday, Justice Michael Lee found there was an “asymmetry of responsibility” for the “long and costly” hearing of the case, because Palmer launched proceedings but only McGowan “was willing to draw back” by offering to drop the case in December 2021.

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The looming questions for John Barilaro ahead of his reappearance before a NSW inquiry

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Former deputy premier is set to reappear on Friday before an inquiry into his appointment to trade role

After a turbulent break that saw the New South Wales government engulfed in a saga over trade appointments, the return of parliament from its winter recess failed to ease the pressure on the premier, Dominic Perrottet.

The government faces two competing controversies. While the appointment to trade postings remains a focus, a new scandal involving the state’s outgoing building commissioner, a sacked minister and a property developer has raised a fresh set of questions for the government.

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Rinehart-backed joint venture pledges $1bn gas expansion but hurdles remain

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Senex Energy says extra fuel will be for domestic use but plans are yet to secure state or federal environmental approvals

Gas producer Senex, which is jointly owned by South Korea’s steel giant Posco and Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart, has planned a more than $1bn expansion to its Queensland gasfields with the bulk of the extra fuel apparently to be earmarked for domestic use.

The company, which is seeking federal and state approval for two sites adjacent to its Atlas and Roma North projects in the Surat Basin, made the announcement ahead of a speech by the resources minister, Madeleine King. It still has to clear some state regulatory hurdles, Senex said.

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Covid may have peaked in Australia’s aged care workforce after cases doubled in July

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Cases now falling among staff and residents but nurses union says preparation for next wave should start immediately

The number of active Covid cases in the aged care workforce doubled in a single month in July, placing a huge burden on an already overstretched workforce.

Analysis of recent Covid data shows a rapid and sharp increase in case numbers among aged care staff as the current Omicron wave peaked in the sector at the end of July.

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Energy ministers’ reforms to Australia’s electricity market could be path to a carbon price, experts say

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Federal, state and territory ministers are set to make emissions reduction a priority for the national electricity market

Australia’s main electricity market will prioritise cutting emissions as part of its objectives for the first time since its creation a quarter of a century ago, a shift that could set up conditions for a carbon price, experts said.

Federal, state and territory energy ministers are scheduled to meet in Canberra on Thursday for a dinner before holding formal talks on Friday. It will be the first gathering since the national electricity market (NEM) was suspended in June after the market operator had to resort to whiteboards and spreadsheets to order generators online.

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Australian electricity companies not reducing emissions in line with Paris agreement goals, study finds

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AGL, EnergyAustralia and Origin among businesses study says not on track to meet global climate goals to limit heating to well below 2C

Nine out of 10 major Australian electricity companies are failing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions fast enough to meet the goals of the landmark Paris climate agreement, a study has found.

Businesses not acting in accordance with the 2015 Paris agreement goal of limiting global heating to well below 2C since pre-industrial times included the generators and retailers AGL, EnergyAustralia and Origin, according to the study led by University of Queensland researchers.

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GPs ditching bulk billing as costs rise and Medicare rebates lag, survey shows

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Nearly a quarter of doctors surveyed said they recently changed billing model, as peak body calls for higher rebates

Doctors are increasingly scrapping bulk billing, according to a survey of almost 500 GPs, with stalling Medicare rebates and the costs of running a practice cited as key reasons.

HealthEd, a private professional education company for doctors, surveyed 477 GPs on 2 August and found more than one in five – 22% – had recently changed their billing model.

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NSW agent general to UK approved ad attacking Labor tax policy before 2019 election

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Exclusive: In former role leading NSW Business Chamber, Stephen Cartwright approved campaign targeting a business policy in three key seats

The man appointed by the New South Wales government to a senior London trade role approved negative television ads that targeted a Labor business tax policy at the last state election in his previous job as head of the NSW Business Chamber.

Separately, a NSW parliamentary inquiry heard testimony this week that the NSW agent general to the UK, Stephen Cartwright, went over the head of his manager, Investment NSW chief Amy Brown, and messaged Liberal trade minister Stuart Ayres directly in a dispute about a cost of living allowance.

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Intruder who broke into monkey enclosure in Tasmania at risk of ‘potentially fatal’ herpes

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Launceston council urges person who entered enclosure to seek medical attention urgently as monkeys can carry herpes B virus

Authorities are urging an intruder who broke into a monkey enclosure in Tasmania to seek medical attention as they may have been exposed to a “potentially fatal” herpes virus.

The enclosure, which houses macaque monkeys, was broken into on Tuesday night with the intruder causing damage to the electric fence before stealing coins from a surrounding moat.

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Australia should abandon goal to limit global heating to 1.5C, says gas company eyeing Beetaloo Basin

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Tamboran Resources, which received $7.5m to explore Beetaloo Basin, argues target may hinder ‘climate improving’ gas projects

A gas company with interests in the Beetaloo Basin is calling on the federal government to rewrite its climate change legislation to abandon the “unattainable” objective of trying to limit global heating to 1.5C.

The call comes despite Australia being a signatory to the Paris agreement that aims to limit global warming to well below 2C – and preferably to 1.5C – compared to pre-industrial levels.

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Australia news live: GPs warn against over-the-counter Covid treatment as nation records 133 deaths from virus

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New South Wales recorded 11,356 new Covid cases in the last reporting period and 30 deaths. There were 2,212 people in hospital and 55 in intensive care.

Bulk-billing statistics dishonest, minister says

The former government was not honest with Australians about the true state of bulk billing in Australia by selectively quoting only this [88%] figure

Primary care is in its worst shape since Medicare began. Across the country we hear stories of Australians not being able to get in to see a bulk-billing doctor, or GPs changing from bulk billing to mixed billing.

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NSW building commissioner’s resignation letter sent to Icac, Dominic Perrottet says

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Letter has been the subject of intense speculation, amid reports it refers to a stop-work order

The resignation letter sent by former New South Wales building commissioner David Chandler when he abruptly quit last month has been sent to the state’s anti-corruption watchdog.

On Wednesday the NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, revealed the letter, which he had previously said he had not read, had been forwarded to the Independent Commission Against Corruption “out of an abundance of caution”.

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Chinese ambassador to Australia says Beijing will use ‘all necessary means’ for Taiwan ‘unification’

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Xiao Qian says reset of China-Australia relationship is possible and suggests Washington had turned Canberra against Beijing

China’s ambassador to Australia has warned Beijing is prepared to use “all necessary means” to prevent Taiwan from being independent, saying there can be “no compromise” on the “one China” policy.

Xiao Qian on Wednesday repeatedly blamed the US for the recent escalation in tensions. China’s decision to launch ballistic missiles in live-fire exercises in response to speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan was “legitimate and justified”, he told the National Press Club in Canberra.

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Victorian opposition leader loses second senior staff member in eight days

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Matthew Guy’s director of communications resigns after reported disagreement with incoming chief of staff

Victoria’s opposition leader, Matthew Guy, has lost a second senior staff member in eight days, less than four months out from the state election, following the abrupt resignation of his director of communications.

Lee Anderson, who had held the position for 12 months, quit on Wednesday morning after what sources say was a disagreement with Guy’s new chief of staff, Nick McGowan.

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Activists lose challenge to NSW laws banning secret filming of animal cruelty

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High court rules laws criminalising secretly recorded footage and audio do not impose too great a burden on speech

Animal rights activists have lost a landmark high court case against New South Wales laws criminalising the use of secretly recorded vision from farms and abattoirs, which they said prevented their attempts to blow the whistle on animal cruelty and abuse.

The state, through its Surveillance Devices Act, makes it a criminal offence to use or possess footage or audio that was obtained using a listening device or hidden camera, and gives no public interest exemptions for doing so.

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Launceston woman dies after nine-hour wait for hospital bed as health system faces increasing strain

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Tasmanian patient in her 70s died while ramped in an ambulance waiting to be admitted to emergency department

The death of a woman who spent nine hours ramped in an ambulance waiting to be admitted to a Tasmanian emergency department has highlighted dire staffing and resourcing issues across Australian hospitals.

A health union has confirmed a woman in her early 70s was taken to Launceston general hospital around midnight on Friday and died at 9am the following morning.

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David Pocock to use Senate balance of power to push for waiving of ACT’s public housing debt

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Independent calls for $100m debt to be wiped as part of negotiations over Labor’s $10bn housing policy, which also faces Greens resistance

The new independent senator David Pocock will use his balance of power position in the Senate to push for the ACT government’s $100m public housing debt to be waived as part of negotiations over Labor’s new housing policy.

Legislation for the government’s new $10bn Housing Australia Future Fund also faces resistance from the Greens, with the party’s housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather saying the proposal is not “good enough” to secure support in the Senate.

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‘The US let him go free’: release of terrorist who killed unarmed Australian soldiers shows contempt for ally, family says

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Exclusive: Father of one of three soldiers slain by Hekmatullah says Australia was ‘sidelined’ in deal between US and Taliban to release terrorist from prison

The family of one of the Australian soldiers killed by rogue Afghan national army sergeant Hekmatullah says Australia was treated with contempt by its closest ally, the US, after it agreed to release the self-professed terrorist from prison.

The Guardian revealed on Monday that the former Afghan national army sergeant, and Taliban plant, Hekmatullah, is again at liberty, and housed under Taliban protection, in the former diplomatic quarter of the Afghan capital Kabul.

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