Category Archives: Australia news

‘We are family’: Anthony Albanese meets Solomon Islands PM amid tension over China deal

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Manasseh Sogavare says relationship with Australia is ‘strong’ despite his recent security pact with Beijing

Anthony Albanese has met with the Solomon Islands prime minister in Suva to discuss their common interests of climate change and regional security issues, despite recent tensions between the two nations over China.

It is the first time that Albanese has met Manasseh Sogavare. The relationship between the countries has become increasingly tense since the signing of the controversial security pact with China earlier this year, but ahead of the meeting Albanese reiterated the importance of the relationship and said it “will be even better after this afternoon”.

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‘Millions’ of Australians will be infected with Covid in coming weeks, health minister says

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Mark Butler is urging Australians to get their booster jabs as case numbers rise and pandemic supports are scaled back

The Australian health minister, Mark Butler, has warned “millions” of people will be infected by Covid in coming weeks, urging Australians to take boosters even as the government winds down other Covid supports.

On Wednesday, Anthony Albanese, doubled down on the federal government’s decision not to extend free rapid antigen tests for concession card holders beyond 31 July.

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‘Exceptionally rare’: Australian scientists find 17 dinosaur teeth in Queensland

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Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum in Winton first discovered 12 sauropod teeth in 2019, with a further five uncovered

Scientists have unearthed 17 teeth from a giant herbivorous dinosaur that roamed Queensland millions of years ago in an “exceptionally rare” Australian find.

The teeth were discovered near the western Queensland town of Winton, which palaeontologists believe was at the edge of an inland ocean around 96 million years ago.

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Police remove two Chinese defence attaches from Pacific Islands Forum meeting

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Fijian police escort the men from media space where US vice-president Kamala Harris was making virtual address

Two Chinese defence attaches have been kicked out by Fijian police from a Pacific Islands Forum meeting at which the US vice-president, Kamala Harris, was giving a virtual address.

The men were sitting in on a session of the forum’s fisheries agency at which Harris announced the step-up of US engagement in the region, believed to be in response to China’s growing influence.

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‘Have you recently had an abortion?’ Australian transiting through US questioned then deported

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Madolline Gourley says she was on her way to Canada for a holiday when US immigration officials intervened

An Australian woman who planned to house-sit in Canada during a holiday has said she was detained, fingerprinted, interrogated about her abortion history and quickly deported during a stopover in the US.

Madolline Gourley, a Brisbane resident, says she was treated like a criminal during her transit through Los Angeles on 30 June, where she was detained at the border due to suspicions about her intention to house- and cat-sit in exchange for accommodation while holidaying in Canada.

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Power struggle with China and regional rift in focus as Anthony Albanese heads to Pacific Islands forum

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Absence of Kiribati from the meeting is ‘really devastating’ to the body’s long-term strategy, security expert says

When Anthony Albanese touches down in Suva on Wednesday to attend his first Pacific Islands Forum, he will be walking in to a regional meeting that is putting on a brave face.

While it had been thought that the forum would be focused on the growing influence of China and as an opportunity for Australia to showcase its new climate credentials, Albanese will arrive to a group wrestling with other problems.

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Origin site of oldest Martian meteorite ‘Black Beauty’ named after WA mining town

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Researchers used AI to pinpoint the meteorite’s crater on Mars’ southern hemisphere, naming it Karratha, a city close to the Pilbara region

Artificial intelligence has helped pinpoint the exact origin site of the oldest Martian meteorite, in a discovery researchers say provides clues about the planet’s early history.

The meteorite, commonly known as “Black Beauty” and officially called Northwest Africa 7034, contains the oldest known Martian igneous material, which is approximately 4.5bn years old. It was found in the Sahara Desert in 2011.

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US announces new embassies in major Pacific push as it jostles with China for influence in region

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Vice-president Kamala Harris has announced postings in Kiribati and Tonga as leaders gather in Fiji for the Pacific Islands Forum

The US has announced a major step-up in its engagement with the Pacific region, including the establishment of new embassies in Kiribati and Tonga, in moves that will be seen as attempts to counter China’s growing influence in the region.

The US vice-president, Kamala Harris, made the announcement on Tuesday, as Pacific leaders gathered in Suva, Fiji for the Pacific Islands Forum, the most significant regional meeting.

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Parents forced to spend hundreds to chaperone teenagers at Splendour in the Grass after late rule change

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Under-18s who can’t find adult supervision for music festival scramble to resell tickets

Splendour in the Grass, one of Australia’s largest outdoor music festivals, has been thrown into chaos, with changes to terms and conditions of entry made less than two weeks out from the event.

Young ticket holders for the 2022 festival – the first held in three years due to Covid-19 – learned on Monday that if they are under the age of 18, they must be accompanied by an adult at all times.

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Sydney’s North Cronulla beach almost vanishes after wild weather causes severe erosion

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A lifeguard tower was left teetering on a cliff edge and had to be relocated, after constant huge swells battered the shoreline

Part of Cronulla beach has been closed to the public for safety reasons after a lifeguard tower was left teetering on a cliff edge and had to be relocated, after constant huge swells eroded the beach.

Weeks of rain and wild weather have severely eroded beaches in some coastal regions of New South Wales.

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Breaking from China’s clean energy dominance ‘imperative’, US and Australia say after new climate tech deal

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New agreement to fast-track climate solutions signed as countries underscore need for diversified supply chains

The US and Australia have stressed the importance of breaking the near-complete reliance on China for zero emissions technology supplies while signing a new agreement that promises to accelerate the development of climate solutions.

In a joint press conference in Sydney, the US energy secretary, Jennifer Granholm, and the Australian climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, announced a “net zero technology acceleration partnership”, including an initial focus on long-duration energy storage and digitising power grids.

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Privacy watchdog to investigate Bunnings and Kmart over use of facial recognition technology

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Information commissioner will look into the personal information handling practices of the retail giants

Australia’s privacy watchdog has launched an investigation into retail giants Bunnings and Kmart over their use of facial recognition technology in some stores.

Consumer group Choice last month revealed Bunnings and Kmart were using the technology – which captures images of people’s faces from video cameras as a unique faceprint that is then stored and can be compared with other faceprints – in what the companies say is a move to protect customers and staff and reduce theft in select stores.

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Queensland woman who tried to smother father in aged care says he begged her to ‘please just kill me’

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Rebecca Louise Burden pleads guilty to attempted murder but tells court she believes ‘I am a good person who made a grave mistake’

The first time Rebecca Louise Burden was allowed to visit her father after Covid restrictions lifted at his aged care home, she tried to smother him with a cushion.

Burden has told a court her “lapse of judgment” came after her 68-year-old father – who had a brain injury and severe dementia – asked her to “please just kill me”.

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End of rapid Covid test and telehealth subsidies criticised – as it happened

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Payments extended to eight more local government areas and sped up to prioritise victims over auditing; free Covid rapid tests for concession card holders to end this month. This blog is now closed

A new campaign has launched today to tackle racism by the Australian Human Rights Commission.

Chin Tan, the race discrimination commissioner, was on ABC Radio this morning discussing the campaign he says calls on all Australians to reflect on the causes and impacts of racism, not only on its victims but Australia’s collective wellbeing as a society.

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Queenslanders miss out on social housing due to failures to build homes and inaccurate waiting lists

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Auditor general’s report says waiting list has grown 78% since 2018 and amount of housing stock has not kept pace

Thousands of Queenslanders are missing out on social housing because the state government is failing to build enough homes, keep an accurate waiting list or manage its existing stock, a report says.

There are 30,922 households approved for social housing on the state’s housing register, which has grown by 78% since 2018.

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Victoria defies health advice for mask mandate as new Covid wave worsens nationwide

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Elective surgeries are again at risk of being delayed with predictions hospitalisations may exceed past Covid waves

The Victorian government has ignored health advice calling for mask mandates in schools, early childhood and retail settings amid a warning that hospitalisations during the current wave of Covid and flu infections may exceed earlier peaks.

As Covid reinfection rates rise nationwide, Victoria on Tuesday joined Queensland in encouraging residents to don masks without requiring them to do so.

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Australia sees climate crisis as a national security issue, defence minister tells US

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Richard Marles delivers speech in US warning of increased militarisation in South China Sea and importance of climate action to Pacific allies

Australia’s defence minister, Richard Marles, has warned of the use of “force or coercion” in the South China Sea and “intensification of major power competition”, references to China’s rising power in the Indo-Pacific.

Marles made the comments in a speech to the Center for Strategic and International Studies on his visit to the US, committing Australia to closer cooperation with the US, higher defence spending and to address the climate crisis in part as a national security issue.

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Vaccines and antivirals not enough to combat Australian Omicron surge, experts warn

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Doctors accuse government of ‘mixed messages’ as hospitalisations rise, saying they should be open to more preventive measures

Doctors have urged Australia’s political leaders not to rule out reinstating mask mandates and social distancing if chief health officers back these measures to combat rising hospitalisations from the winter Omicron wave.

The president of the Australian Medical Association, Dr Omar Khorshid, said it was important politicians did not block such measures if that was recommended by their medical experts.

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‘Racism: It Stops with Me’ campaign funded by disaffected former Collingwood football club sponsor

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Insurance firm redirected funding from club to Australian Human Rights Commission campaign after racism claims

A new campaign to tackle racism launched by the Australian Human Rights Commission was partly paid for by a sponsor who redirected funding from the AFL’s Collingwood football club after a report commissioned by the club found a culture of “structural racism”.

The AHRC said it hopes to tackle racism by appealing to those who have not experienced it.

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SMS scams: mobile companies could face fines of up to $250,000 under new Australian code

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New regulations require scam messages to be traced, identified and blocked and for information to be shared with authorities

Mobile phone companies could face up to $250,000 in fines for failing to comply with a new code to block SMS scam messages.

The code, registered by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (Acma) on Tuesday, will require the companies to trace, identify and block SMS scam messages, and publish information for customers on how to identify and report scams.

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