Category Archives: Australia news

Anthony Albanese vows to strengthen Australia’s ties on official Indonesia visit

Posted on by

PM accompanied by senior ministers and business leaders as Labor’s regional diplomatic offensive continues amid growing China assertiveness

Anthony Albanese has declared he wants to strengthen the Australia-Indonesia relationship while deepening ties with south-east Asian nations amid escalating tensions prompted by China’s growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific.

Australia’s prime minister touched down in Jakarta on Sunday night accompanied by senior ministers and a high-powered business delegation to pursue a two-day diplomatic full court press in Indonesia.

Continue reading...

PwC told client it could cut Australian tax by $70m, court documents in privilege fight show

Posted on by

The Australian Tax Office is auditing Brazilian meat processor JBS over tax restructure

Global accounting firm PwC told Brazilian meat multinational JBS it would save about $70m a year in Australian tax if the company followed advice that was deliberately structured as a legal service in order to prevent it being seen by authorities, according to documents released by the federal court.

PwC’s decision to provide tax advice to JBS as legal advice was legal, but the strategy backfired after the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) launched an audit of JBS.

Continue reading...

My Health Record: after 12 years and more than $2bn, hardly anyone is using digital service

Posted on by

Research shows many Australians find medical records not uploaded and clinicians fail to see benefits of using the national online database

Twelve years after the introduction of My Health Record, Australians are struggling to access their medical information, while clinicians report frustrating difficulties uploading and finding vital health details such as pathology results and diagnostic tests.

The latest annual report from the Australian Digital Health Agency shows just 2.69 million of the 23 million people registered for a My Health Record accessed it in 2020-21. While this is an increase of 14% from the previous year, it was largely driven by people accessing Covid-19 vaccination records and Covid-19 test results.

Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

‘Shocking’ rate of sexual abuse against aged care residents barely changed since royal commission

Posted on by

Peak rights group for older Australians demands urgent change after 530 incidents of sexual abuse reported in last quarter of 2021

More than 500 cases of sexual abuse against aged care residents were reported in the last three months of 2021, a rate largely unchanged since the royal commission dubbed the prevalence of sexual crimes in residential care a “source of national shame”.

Experts say victims, many of whom live with dementia, are still being failed by systems not equipped to recognise or respond to crimes against those with serious cognitive impairment.

Continue reading...

Peter Dutton sidelines Scott Morrison allies in shadow cabinet as Nationals take six spots

Posted on by

Angus Taylor becomes shadow treasurer, but Alex Hawke gets no position in a shadow cabinet with 10 women

Allies of Scott Morrison have been dumped from the shadow cabinet and senior conservatives promoted in a reshuffle stamping Peter Dutton’s mark on the Liberal party.

Dutton and the Nationals leader, David Littleproud, announced the shadow ministry in Brisbane on Sunday, revealing it will include 10 women, with six Nationals in cabinet.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Anthony Albanese talks with Timor-Leste leadership as he flies to Indonesia for official visit

Posted on by

Ahead of Jakarta trip, PM flagged push for deeper ties with neighbours while ‘recognising the challenges’ of China’s involvement in region

Anthony Albanese had what officials characterised as a “warm and positive” conversation with the Timor-Leste prime minister, Taur Matan Ruak, en route to Jakarta on Sunday.

Ruak congratulated Albanese on his recent election victory, and the Australian prime minister pledged closer cooperation on the climate transition and development support for Timor-Leste.

Continue reading...

Severe weather warnings for NSW and Victoria as blizzards move in to alpine areas, while SA is lashed by rain

Posted on by

Residents urged to avoid travel as cold front brings frigid temperatures, rain and damaging winds to several states

Blizzard conditions are on their way for large parts of New South Wales and Victoria’s alpine areas as a “vigorous” cold front brings cold showers, strong winds and frigid temperatures, while South Australia has been hit by torrential rain.

The Bureau of Meteorology issued severe weather warnings for damaging wind gusts and blizzard conditions for southern NSW and across much of Victoria, with peaks gusts of up to 130km/h likely over Alpine areas.

Continue reading...

Chinese fighter jet’s actions near Australian aircraft ‘very dangerous’, deputy PM says

Posted on by

Defence reports J-16 jet released ‘chaff’ including aluminium shards in front of Australian flight in South China Sea region

Australia has complained to China over its interception of a maritime surveillance flight in international airspace in the South China Sea region, which the deputy prime minister labelled “very dangerous”.

The defence department has revealed the interception of a “routine maritime surveillance activity” in a statement on Sunday, claiming it resulted in a “dangerous manoeuvre” that risked the safety of the Australian aircraft and its crew.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

New shadow foreign minister says he wants to work ‘constructively’ with Penny Wong – as it happened

Posted on by

Simon Birmingham says Australian foreign policy should work with ‘one voice’; Anthony Albanese says Australia has ‘raised concerns’ with China after P-8A Poseidon intercepted by Chinese J-16 fighter aircraft; at least 30 Covid deaths recorded. This blog is now closed

NSW records five Covid deaths

The climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, has just shot back at Coalition criticisms of how Labor is handling the energy crisis.

We’re managing them very actively. As I said, the gas supply guarantee has already been activated and it’s already had an impact and I’m working very closely with my state and territory energy minister colleagues.

But, you know, advice from the previous government – which Angus Taylor has been happy to give out, and I noticed Peter Dutton has been giving out – is about as effective as advice from the captain of the Titanic on navigation skills.

Continue reading...

Chris Bowen says Labor ‘actively managing’ energy crisis as Dutton criticises response

Posted on by

Bowen blames decade of inaction on renewables and limitations on gas trigger for preventing a swifter fix

Chris Bowen has rejected Coalition claims Labor is not doing enough to fix the energy crisis, labelling its input “as effective as advice from the captain of the Titanic on navigation skills”.

The climate change and energy minister told Sky News on Sunday the new government was “actively managing” the crisis but a decade of inaction on renewables and limitations on the gas trigger was preventing swifter fixes.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Whale watching season starts early as humpback population bounces back

Posted on by

Not long ago, the humpback was almost wiped out, now its numbers are booming in what conservationists say is a ‘wonderful success story’

People across Australia’s east coast are catching an earlier than expected first glimpse of breaching humpback whales as they migrate north, and scientists say the reason why is a conservation success story.

Whale watchers were treated to a spectacular show in Sydney on Monday as two humpback whales surged from the water metres from their boat. Dr Wally Franklin, director of the Oceania Project, said sightings have also been reported off the coast of Merimbula, Byron Bay, Tweed Heads, the Gold Coast and Hervey Bay, as the whales journey north from the Antarctic to the Great Barrier Reef.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Environment to-do list: five ministerial priorities for Tanya Plibersek

Posted on by

Australia’s new minister faces difficult challenges fixing laws, creating an EPA and curbing an extinction crisis

There was surprise last week when Tanya Plibersek was announced as Australia’s new environment and water minister. The portfolio, which had been held by Terri Butler in opposition before she lost her seat, comes with a long list of unaddressed challenges.

Here are five that Plibersek will face as she gets up to speed in her new role.

Continue reading...

Public sector pay to fall under NSW government wage cap, report finds

Posted on by

Exclusive: Union-commissioned study finds cap will see wages fall by thousands of dollars a year

Public sector workers will lose thousands of dollars a year due to rising cost of living pressures unless the New South Wales government scraps its controversial cap on wages, according to a new report released ahead of plans for further industrial action.

As a coalition of unions prepares to ramp up its campaign against the Coalition, the report, commissioned by Unions NSW, found nurses, teachers, police and paramedics all face being thousands of dollars worse off due to the 2.5% cap on wage increases introduced in 2011.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

‘Cheeky’ Queen jokes as she congratulates Australians of the Year

Posted on by

Monarch recalls ‘little pond’ in Parliament House during newly released video call made in May

The Queen displayed a “cheeky” sense of humour when she met virtually with several Australians of the Year and the country’s governor general as part of her platinum jubilee celebrations.

During the Zoom call with the six Australians, which included the recently retired wheelchair tennis player Dylan Alcott, the 96-year-old monarch remarked on the “splendid” technology which enabled the virtual meeting to take place.

Continue reading...

Teen fatally stabbed during gathering at home in Sydney’s west

Posted on by

NSW police say the alleged offender was the boyfriend of a mutual friend who had been invited to the party

A 16-year-old boy has been fatally stabbed at a gathering at a western Sydney home.

Emergency services were called to a house at Ropes Crossing, near Blacktown, early on Saturday morning to find the boy suffering a stab wound.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Drama and ‘deception’ as Kambosos weighs in heavy for lightweight blockbuster

Posted on by
  • Kambosos misses 135lb limit at first try, hitting scales at 135.36lb
  • After making weight, stage is set for Devin Haney showdown

The unification world title fight between George Kambosos Jr and American Devin Haney will proceed on Sunday after the Australian dramatically made the weight at the second time of asking.

In chaotic and explosive scenes at Margaret Court Arena, Kambosos initially missed the 135lb limit for the lightweight blockbuster, hitting the scales at 135.36lb.

Continue reading...

Albanese honours Queen amid jubilee celebrations; up to seven monkeypox cases detected; 59 Covid deaths reported – as it happened

Posted on by

Prime minister renames island in Lake Burley Griffin to honour monarch’s 70 years of service to Australia. This blog is now closed

Brisbane’s new Greens MPs set their sights on the suburbs

Brisbane’s new Greens MPs talk about the moments they “flipped” voters – the driveway conversions of climate unbelievers or hostile folks who had only ever supported the major parties.

Continue reading...

Indian MP visiting Australia appears to equate Muslim conquest of India with Holocaust

Posted on by

BJP’s Tejasvi Surya’s comments come as Muslim student associations, religious groups and academics protest his visit

An Indian politician visiting Australia called the Muslim conquest of India “the bloodiest chapter in the history of the world” and appeared to equate it with the Holocaust amid a controversial speaking tour.

Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) MP Tejasvi Surya, in Australia to take part in a series of events, including the Australia India Youth Dialogue (AIYD), told an audience in Parramatta on Monday that the history of Islam is “writ large with bloodshed and violence.”

Continue reading...

Let doctors use MDMA to treat veterans with PTSD and depression, former ADF boss says

Posted on by

Chris Barrie says he hopes common sense will prevail and the TGA will allow drug to be more readily used to treat patients

The former chief of the Australian defence force, Chris Barrie, is campaigning to remove barriers stymying doctors from using MDMA to treat veterans suffering post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, saying he hopes “common sense is going to prevail”.

Late last year, the Therapeutic Goods Administration decided against downgrading the classification of psilocybin or MDMA as a prohibited substance to a controlled substance, a move which would have increased patient access.

Continue reading...

‘Out of control’ gas prices likely to filter down to Australian consumers, food processor says

Posted on by

Industry advocates push for eastern states to establish gas reserves as soaring energy costs put pressure on companies

One of Australia’s largest regional food processors says energy costs are “out of control”, with already elevated gas prices tripling since the company signed new contracts in early 2022.

Consumers will inevitably cop higher prices on their products with other costs also on the rise, including a jump of as much as 40% for raw materials such as tomatoes, carrots and apples in the past year, Jason Fritsch, the chief executive of Kagome, said.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...