Category Archives: Australia news

Spit hoods continue to be used on minors while ‘alternatives’ are explored, Queensland government says

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The controversial device has been used eight times on children aged between 10 and 17 since 2019

The Queensland government has confirmed it continues to use spit hoods on minors, with at least one child subjected to the controversial device this year.

Queensland police have told a budget estimates hearing that they have been exploring alternative measures, but the government would not confirm whether they will ban spit hoods or continue to use the restraints.

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The John Barilaro affair has stripped the shine off NSW’s hardman premier Dominic Perrottet | Anne Davies

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His handling of this crisis, which led to the resignation of his deputy Stuart Ayres, has colleagues questioning whether he has the right stuff under pressure

The New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, looked stressed as he fronted the media on Wednesday to announce that his deputy Liberal leader and trade minister, Stuart Ayres had agreed to resign from the ministry.

The scandal over the appointment of the former Nationals leader, John Barilaro, to a $500,000-per-year trade job in New York (that he created before leaving parliament) has festered for six weeks and stripped the shine off a premier who is yet to celebrate 12 months in office.

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Peak unemployment bodies say raising jobseeker rate should take priority over lifting pension income test

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‘Completely around the wrong way’ to allow pensioners to work more without losing pay while jobseeker remains unchanged, advocates say

Increasing the jobseeker rate should take priority over other welfare reforms including allowing aged pensioners to work more without having their payments reduced, peak unemployment bodies say.

A private member’s bill introduced by independent MP Rebekha Sharkie on Monday would increase the income test threshold for pensioners, permitting older Australians to work more hours before their payments were docked.

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From celebrity wrangler to political staffer: how Mitch Catlin’s career change came unstuck

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Analysis: Liberals were always sceptical of Matthew Guy’s plan to use a marketing maestro to improve the party’s chances in Victoria

Eyebrows were raised among Victorian Liberals when returning opposition leader Matthew Guy announced last September that his new chief of staff would be marketing expert and celebrity wrangler Mitch Catlin.

Catlin, known for his Birdcage antics at Flemington and rehabilitating the image of Today show host Karl Stefanovic after his divorce, had little political experience, several Liberal MPs demurred.

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Politics live: ‘difficult day for Australians with a mortgage’, Chalmers says; east coast gas shortages in spotlight

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The resources minister, Madeleine King, has taken the first step in reining in the big three LNG exporters by ‘triggering the trigger’

Labor unlikely to extend the fuel excise cut

Asked about the fuel excise in that same interview, Jim Chalmers said:

I’ve been really upfront with people, Charles, for some time now – before the election, during the election and after the election – and pointed out that extending that would cost some billions of dollars and the budget can’t afford that. We’ve inherited a budget which is absolutely heaving with a trillion dollars in Liberal party debt. And when interest rates are rising, it actually costs more and more to service that debt.

The fastest-growing area of government spending in the budget is actually servicing the debt that we’ve inherited because, as interest rates rise, it becomes more expensive to pay that back. So every dollar borrowed, whether it’s by our predecessors or by the new government costs more to pay back and we need to be conscious about that. We need to be responsible about that and upfront about that. And that’s what we’re being.

This isn’t about any one individual. This is about a difficult day for Australians with a mortgage, another difficult day I think everybody is bracing for the interest rate rise that the governor and the Reserve Bank board has flagged.

These decisions are taken independently by the Reserve Bank, by its board and by its governor. People are expecting this outcome today. But it won’t make it any easier.

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Australia’s high gas prices could be here to stay if threats don’t turn into action

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The east coast faces a potential gas shortfall in 2023 amounting to 10% of demand and there are calls for exporters to fill the gap

Some time in the next couple of weeks, a well-known ASX-listed company could go to the wall if it can’t secure a new contract for gas.

That firm, for now at least, can’t go public without its share price cratering and its employees and suppliers being sent into a panic.

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Australia’s official interest rates expected to rise by half-percentage point, economists say

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Experts predict RBA will lift cash rate from to 1.85%, marking a 175-basis point increase since May

Australia’s official interest rates are all but certain to be lifted on Tuesday with the expected half-percentage point increase marking the Reserve Bank’s sharpest tightening phase since 1994.

A survey by Bloomberg News found 28 of 30 respondents predict the RBA board will lift the cash rate from 1.35% to 1.85% at its monthly meeting. That move would mark a 175-basis point increase in the rate since it began hiking in May.

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US and Australia to launch second joint spy satellite from site in New Zealand

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Some in space industry bewildered by Australia’s lack of fanfare about the launch of the satellites, which will be used to collect intelligence for allied nations

A second spy satellite built by Australia and the United States is scheduled for liftoff on Tuesday from a launch site in New Zealand.

The first of the two satellites, which will be used to collect intelligence for the allied nations, launched two weeks ago.

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Warren Entsch may support Labor’s climate target if he can be shown it’s not a ‘brain fart’

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Liberal MP says he is open-minded on bill but doesn’t want it to become an ‘impost on the community’ amid high inflation

The veteran Liberal MP Warren Entsch says he is open-minded about Labor’s bill to enshrine a 43% emissions reduction target if he can be convinced the Albanese government has a concrete plan to achieve the cut without driving up power prices.

Ahead of the first substantive Coalition party room meeting of the 47th parliament on Tuesday, Entsch told Guardian Australia he was seeking advice on the bill and might lend support if there was evidence to suggest the number wasn’t a “brain fart”.

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‘Like an alien obelisk’: space debris found in Snowy Mountains paddock believed to be from SpaceX mission

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Astrophysicist Brad Tucker says he often gets calls from people who think they’ve found space junk but the scorched metal found by two farmers is ‘very real’

The Australian Space Agency is investigating space debris found in farmland in the Snowy Mountains in southern NSW, after being notified by an astrophysicist who believes it to be from a SpaceX mission.

Brad Tucker, an astrophysicist at the Australian National University, says he often gets calls from people who believe they’ve found space junk – and they are normally easy to rule out.

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‘Put your masks on’: Monique Ryan gives Coalition dressing-down during question time

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Former paediatric neurologist was speaking about the risk of long Covid when opposition MPs, most of whom were not wearing masks, interjected

Independent MP Monique Ryan, a former paediatric neurologist, has rebuked Coalition MPs for not wearing masks in the House of Representatives.

Ryan, who unseated Josh Frydenberg from his inner Melbourne seat of Kooyong at the May election, was heckled from the Coalition benches after she asked the health minister, Mark Butler, about how the government planned to manage the looming burden of long Covid.

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Australia politics live: Monique Ryan tells Coalition ‘put your masks on’ in question time; Greens say RBA interest rate hikes won’t solve inflation

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The housing minister, Julie Collins, says Australia’s rate of homelessness is “unacceptable”, as she promises a greater leadership role from the federal government in the sector.

Australia today marks the beginning of Homelessness Week, with social agencies calling on governments nationwide to do more to address housing and rental affordability, as well as the underlying factors contributing to homelessness.

Our reforms aim to ensure every Australian has access to safe and affordable housing to improve social and economic outcomes for all Australians, including those at risk of, or experiencing, homelessness,” she said on Monday.

According to the 2016 Census, in Australia there are over 116,000 people experiencing homelessness, and this figure is unacceptable.”

We all need to be heading in the same direction.

We need to be ambitious ... we all need to be working together to solve the housing affordability issues we have.

What’s happened is the states and territories have been doing their own thing and I don’t think there’s been enough national leadership.

In its gas inquiry 2017-2025 interim report released on Monday, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said the east coast gas market is facing a gas shortfall of 56 petajoules in 2023.

This gap is about 10% of annual domestic demand, ‘signifying a substantial risk to Australia’s energy security’, the report says.

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Dozens of flights cancelled at Sydney and Melbourne airports as industry struggles with staff shortages

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Multiple airlines experience delays due to crew absences while Qantas technical glitch left passengers waiting for hours

Widespread flight cancellations across multiple airlines have frustrated travellers at Sydney and Melbourne airports on Monday, as the industry grapples with staffing shortages as well as a technology glitch that affected Qantas flights on Sunday.

Across Qantas, Virgin Australia, Jetstar and Rex, 23 domestic flights were cancelled out of Sydney airport on Monday.

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Drink-driving Queensland mayor Karen Williams sentenced to community service

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Redland mayor Karen Williams has apologised for the incident, calling it a single lapse of judgment

A Queensland mayor who recorded a blood alcohol test of more than three times the legal limit has been ordered to do community service.

Redland’s mayor, Karen Williams, pleaded guilty to drink-driving on Monday, describing the incident as a single lapse of judgment in 18 years of public service.

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Australia urged to prove it is a safe nuclear custodian as Aukus comes under scrutiny at UN

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Non-nuclear state Australia’s handling of nuclear-powered submarines will have to be ‘impeccable’, Australia Institute says

Australia needs to step up in the fight to stop nuclear conflict, and to prove to the world it is a safe nuclear custodian, a new report argues.

The report by the Australia Institute comes ahead of a major global conference that starts on Monday in New York, where Australia’s Aukus submarine deal will come under scrutiny.

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Australian property prices tumble at rates not seen since GFC

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Interest rate rises lead to dwelling values falling for third month in a row with Sydney prices down 5.2% since January

Australia’s property prices are falling at rates comparable to the onset of the global financial crisis or the 1980s downturn as higher interest rates deflate demand. Sydney’s drop, though, is already more precipitous than those earlier eras.

In July alone, dwelling values fell 1.3% on average nationally, marking a third consecutive monthly decline according to CoreLogic, a property data firm. Five of the nation’s eight capitals reported falls, with Sydney down 2.2% and Melbourne retreating 1.5% while prices in Brisbane, Canberra and Hobart were also starting to slide.

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Emma McKeon becomes most successful Commonwealth Games athlete with 11th gold medal

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  • Australian surpasses fellow greats O’Neill, Thorpe and Jones
  • Women’s rugby sevens team win gold on another dominant day

Emma McKeon has written her name into the history books as the most successful athlete in Commonwealth Games history after winning her 11th gold medal in the women’s 50m freestyle, as the Australian women’s 4x200m freestyle relay team set Birmingham alight with a world record.

Australia cemented their position atop of the medal table on day three, with a further nine golds across rugby sevens, gymnastics, swimming and track cycling to take the country’s total haul to 22 gold – double that of host nation England in second place.

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‘It’s not wise to be rushed’: Linda Burney says government will consult extensively on Indigenous voice

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Minister says Labor’s plan is ‘five years in the making’ as she seeks to clear up confusion about approach

The Indigenous Australians minister, Linda Burney, says there will be extensive consultation with Indigenous leaders and engagement with the wider Australian community as the Labor government seeks to enshrine a voice to parliament in the constitution.

Burney, speaking at the Garma festival in Arnhem Land, also said Labor had a plan “five years in the making”, as she sought to clear up questions and confusion about the government’s approach.

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Indigenous leaders start planning next steps in reconciliation push – as it happened

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PM: voice not ‘not a third chamber of the parliament’

Albanese is asked whether he believes the question being proposed is simple enough for Australians to understand what they’re voting for. Albanese says it is a “simple proposition which is consistent with good manners”.

It says where you are implementing a policy that affects a group, in this case the oldest continuous civilisation on the planet, something we should be proud about, you should consult, involve them.

This makes it very clear this doesn’t change in any way the primacy of our democratically elected parliament.

Where we have sought to impose things from Canberra, without that consultation, without their involvement, is where problems have arisen over the last 121 years.

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