Category Archives: Australia news

NSW clubs’ lobby alleges whistleblower Troy Stolz waged media campaign to ‘tarnish’ its reputation

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ClubsNSW alleges in a federal court document that sending information to journalists was intended to breach confidentiality

The New South Wales’ club lobby is using emails between whistleblower Troy Stolz and journalists at five major media outlets to argue he waged a campaign to “tarnish” its reputation with confidential information about its alleged failures to comply with laws designed to prevent money laundering and terror financing, according to court documents.

ClubsNSW is suing Stolz, a former employee, over his handling of internal documents, including a series of documents he sent to journalists.

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Victorian health systems’ ‘failure’ led to woman’s death after a stillborn delivery, inquest told

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Brian Moylan urges coroner to be ‘courageous’ in pursuit of facts in inquest into death of his daughter, Annie O’Brien

Healthcare systems failed pregnant mum Annie O’Brien and her family has been burdened with investigating what led to her death, her father has told a Victorian inquest.

Five years to the day after the 37-year-old died, O’Brien’s father, Brian Moylan, urged the state coroner, John Cain, to be courageous in pursuing facts around her death and to make bold findings toward improvements in Victoria’s health system.

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Queensland police commissioner to front extra hearing of domestic violence inquiry

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Katarina Carroll will discuss the force’s capability and culture after critics questioned why she had not been called to appear

Queensland’s police commissioner, Katarina Carroll, will front a domestic violence hearing this week after the state’s commission of inquiry backflipped on a previous decision not to call her to give evidence.

Carroll will appear at the inquiry’s final public hearing on Thursday to discuss the organisation’s capability, capacity and structure to respond to domestic violence, as well as cultural issues within the force.

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Scott Morrison used self-appointed powers to override minister on unpopular Pep11 gas-drilling permit

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Government sources say Morrison took control of Keith Pitt’s portfolio to reject exploration licence in lead-up to election

Scott Morrison used his extraordinary ministerial powers to overrule the resources minister, Keith Pitt, on the controversial Pep11 gas project, without revealing he had appointed himself responsible for the portfolio.

As details emerge about the former prime minister’s takeover of at least three additional portfolios, government sources say Morrison took control of the resources portfolio to reject the offshore gas exploration permit in the lead-up to the election.

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Dutton says he was not aware of Morrison’s secret ministries – as it happened

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Ed Husic pushes for ‘brain regain’

Industry minister Ed Husic will this week host a series of five roundtable meetings with science and technology leaders in the lead-up to the federal government’s jobs summit, in a bid to kickstart what he called “brain regain” – attracting Australia’s bright minds working overseas to return home, to combat the so-called “brain drain”.

These discussions will also include ways to increase the representation of women and people of diverse backgrounds in skilled occupations. One of my priorities is on “brain regain” – encouraging Australian researchers and innovators to return home. I am interested to hear ideas on how this can be best achieved.

I can’t emphasise strongly enough that this is the start of engagement with these industry sectors. After the jobs and skills summit I will continue the work with industry leaders to ensure we apply practical solutions to accelerate Australia’s pathway to high-skilled, high-value economy.

He’s applied for a job and that’s coming with a significant degree of scrutiny, as it should do. That’s part of the territory if you’re going to put yourself forward for those roles.

If he felt the need to protect the environment from offshore drilling for gas off Sydney’s northern beaches and he felt he needed to swear himself in as minister, that’s something I support.

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Anthony Albanese seeks legal advice over reports Scott Morrison secretly swore himself into ministry roles

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Reports claim former prime minister’s senior cabinet colleagues were unaware he allegedly swore himself into three ministry positions

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is seeking legal advice over reports his predecessor Scott Morrison secretly swore himself into three ministry positions while in government, a fact that was allegedly concealed even from senior cabinet colleagues.

Morrison’s deputy PM Barnaby Joyce described the reportedly secretive arrangements, allegedly made without the input of the governor general, as “very bad practice”, while Labor minister Bill Shorten questioned whether the former leader had a “messianic complex”.

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Greens propose shutting down all Victorian coal-fired power plants by 2030

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Exclusive: New bill also increases the state’s legislated renewable energy target to 100% by decade’s end

Victoria’s three remaining coal-fired power plants would be progressively shut down over the next eight years, under a Greens bill to be introduced to parliament this week.

The Energy Legislation Amendment (Transition from Coal) Bill 2022, is the Greens final piece of legislation to be debated before the state goes to the polls in November, and is set to form a central pillar of the party’s climate policy.

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Australia’s indefinite detention of people with mental impairment breaches human rights, advocates say

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Experts argue system lacks proper monitoring and effectively ‘disappears’ people, sometimes for decades

Australia’s use of indefinite detention for people with cognitive impairments is a breach of human rights and the “outrageous” failure to implement a proper monitoring regime is rendering people with a disability invisible from public view, experts say.

More than 1,200 people with a mental impairment are being indefinitely detained in Australia despite not having been convicted of a criminal offence. Each state and territory uses a variety of orders to enforce indefinite detention, including in prisons and hospitals.

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Cooking oil price surges hurt Australian takeaway outlets including fish and chips

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Covid-induced inflation, drought in Canada and global instability are putting the squeeze on key ingredients of a national staple

Takeaway businesses are feeling the pinch as prices surge for cooking oil and potatoes – two key ingredients of an Australian staple: fish and chips.

Justin Quinton, the owner of Saltmine Fish and Chips in the New South Wales Hunter region, told Guardian Australia his Salamander Bay eatery previously used a blend of cottonseed, canola and sunflower oil.

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Shipwreck of Captain Cook’s Endeavour being eaten by ‘termites of the ocean’, expert says

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Shipworms and crustaceans called gribbles have infiltrated the wood of the vessel off Rhode Island

There are fears the wreck of Captain James Cook’s Endeavour is being destroyed by shipworms, the “termites of the ocean”.

In February the Australian Maritime Museum announced that the shipwreck, in waters off the coast of Rhode Island in the US, was “the final resting place” of that famous historical ship.

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Man charged with firearms offences after Canberra airport shooting

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Police say a NSW man, 63, will face court following Sunday shooting that led to evacuation of airport

A man has been charged with firearms offences after a shooting that prompted the evacuation of Canberra airport on Sunday.

A man was arrested at the airport after allegedly firing about five shots inside, some leaving bullet holes in terminal windows, at 1.30pm on Sunday.

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Labor vows to prioritise Australian jobs as it eyes migration boost

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Annual intake could potentially rise from 160,000 to up to 200,000 places as businesses cry out for skilled workers

The home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, has vowed Labor “will always prioritise jobs for Australians” as the government eyes increasing the migration cap potentially to 200,000 places per year.

A boost from the current annual migration intake of 160,000 will be on the table at the federal government’s jobs and skills summit next month.

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Daniel Andrews backs federal plan to boost migration – as it happened

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Labor’s plan to tackle skills shortages would lift the annual migration cap from 160,000 to between 180,000 and 200,000. This blog is now closed

Bowen says climate reforms will help Australian industry avoid carbon tariffs

Bowen says how this will work has yet to be determined and gives a nod to an upcoming discussion paper, with the details to be hammered out in consultation with industry. But he raises some interesting points that this needs to happen as there is a growing risk Australian industry will be exposed to carbon tariffs if nothing changes.

This will help us avoid these, by showing the EU and the rest of the world, you don’t need to slap tariffs on our manufacturers and our producers because Australia is working with industry to get emissions down in a very sensible way.

The safeguard mechanism is taking the 315 biggest emissions and working with them to reduce emissions, because if we don’t, we will continue the 10 years of no reductions from those facilities and it won’t cut the mustard.

Any facility which emits more than 100,000 tonnes … whether it is new or existing, which is just increasing its activity, we are not having the same architecture. They will be put on a trajectory to net zero, facility by facility. We have designed this in a very sensible way.

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Two women shot dead in Sydney’s south-west killed in targeted ‘assassination’, police say

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The women – aged 48 and 39 – died after the offender opened fire on them as they sat in a car in Revesby on Saturday night

New South Wales police say the shooting that killed two women on a Sydney street was a planned and methodical “assassination”.

Two women – aged 48 and 39 – died after the offender opened fire on them as they sat in a car in Revesby. Two people in the back seat – a girl aged 16 and man aged 20 – were not seriously injured.

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At least 89 Covid deaths; Littleproud tells Nationals he’ll bring pragmatic policies to jobs summit – as it happened

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Nationals leader outlines vision for party at federal council meeting. This blog is now closed

White whale calf seen off NSW coast

There’s one newborn hogging all the attention off the NSW coast – a southern right whale calf born whiter than usual, AAP reports:

Southern right whales are mostly very dark, although some have splashes of white called a blaze.

Its white areas will darken to grey as it ages. It’s one of around one-in-30 southern right whale calves born with brindle colouring.

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Nationals leader says party must rebuild trust with women but rejects quotas

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David Littleproud says regional Australians should be considered at Labor’s jobs summit as he outlines vision to party faithful

The leader of the Nationals, David Littleproud, has said his party will make rebuilding trust with women a top priority, but rejected quotas for his party.

“I don’t believe in quotas,” he said.

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Judith Neilson Institute dismisses remaining members of advisory board after earlier director walkout

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Staff and media beneficiaries perplexed by ‘totally unnecessary disruption’ as institute pivots to promote ‘social change journalism’

The Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas (JNI) has dismissed the remaining members of its international advisory council ahead of a review of the not-for-profit which has now been stripped of its founding board, expert journalism panel and management.

The billionaire philanthropist funded the institute to the tune of $100m in 2018, but blindsided the organisation earlier this year by announcing she wanted to take it in a different direction.

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Property donated by family of John Clarke embroiled in Victorian First Nations dispute

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Boonwurrung elder fights plans to transfer land from the satirist’s estate to the Bunurong Land Council

A property donated by the family of renowned satirist and comedian John Clarke has become embroiled in a long-running dispute between two First Nations groups in Victoria.

The land on Phillip Island, about 120km south-east of Melbourne, was donated by Clarke’s widow, Helen McDonald, to conservation group Trust for Nature after his death in 2017.

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OK boomer: the generational change that could shake up Victorian politics

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Analysis: with Millennials and Gen Z outnumbering baby boomers, attention turns to the ‘youth vote’

Much has been made about voters shifting away from the major parties and towards independents and Greens candidates.

But a lot of the analysis from this year’s federal election didn’t consider one important aspect: it was the first in which baby boomers were outnumbered by Millennial and Gen Z voters.

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How to photograph a meteor shower: where to take a photo of the Perseids meteors in Australia

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Getting a good shot is tricky so here are some tips to capture a picture of the Perseid meteor shower at its peak in August

After three meteor showers lit up the sky across eastern Australia in July, the Perseid meteor shower will peak 13 August, giving stargazers another opportunity to photograph the fireballs as they blaze across the sky.

But capturing a meteorite shower is not as easy as just taking out your iPhone and pressing the button.

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