Category Archives: Australia news

Detection of fire ants in Queensland 800km from closest infestation sparks fury over gaps in eradication funding

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Businesses and industry urged to stay alert after invasive species discovered at coalmine in Moranbah, about 150km inland from Mackay

Fire ants have been detected in central Queensland for the first time in history after a major outbreak at a BHP Broadmeadow coalmine.

The discovery has prompted fury among the Invasive Species Council, who have questioned how the invasive pest had travelled almost 800km from the closest known infestation zone.

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Australia news live: Bob Brown takes out ad praising woman injured in pro-Palestine protest; AMA welcomes new medicinal cannabis guidelines

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The political leader of the central Tibetan administration – Tibet’s government in exile – is visiting Australia this week.

It comes as Anthony Albanese heads to China this weekend.

It is not enough to have freedom only in a few countries in this world. Freedom is necessary for every human being in this world.

When prime minister Albanese’s visiting there, I would urge him to also say that he would like to visit Tibet.

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Wantirna South crash: Driving rules for elderly under scrutiny after car crash kills woman, leaves man fighting for life

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Police say car driven by 91-year-old ‘came from behind’ and struck a woman, man and toddler near a playground in Melbourne’s east on Thursday

The Victorian government is considering increasing testing for elderly drivers after a 91-year-old woman lost control of her car near a playground and struck three pedestrians, killing one.

The acting premier, Ben Carroll, said his thoughts were with the family of the female pedestrian who died on Thursday afternoon on Coleman Road in Wantirna South in Melbourne’s east.

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Mushroom trial spores toxic media hot takes after Erin Patterson’s guilty verdict | Weekly Beast

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Coverage ranges from psychedelic gifs to ‘full-on Walking Dead-style zombie stuff’. Plus: is the ABC really listening?

The media were constrained in what they could report during Erin Patterson’s 10-week trial. But after the mushroom trial guilty verdict was handed down on Monday, all bets were off.

The extraordinary photographs of the triple murderer in a prison van in May were published by every media outlet, bought from the wire agency AFP for more than $1,500 each or a discounted rate for the set of six.

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Nick Adams: Trump picks former Sydney councillor and self-described ‘alpha male’ as Malaysia ambassador

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In 2023 posts on X, Adams listed interests including restaurant chain Hooters, rare steaks, ‘extremely’ heavy weights and the Bible

A former Sydney councillor and self-described “alpha male” has been picked by Donald Trump to be the new US ambassador to Malaysia, with the US president describing the Hooters fan as an “incredible patriot”.

In a post to X after his nomination, Nick Adams thanked the US president for the “honor of a lifetime”, saying that “In your America, all dreams come true”.

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Eight countries back Australia’s push to add WA rock art to World Heritage list hours before crunch meeting

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Committee due to make decision on inscription of the Murujuga Cultural Landscape overnight

The Australian government has secured the backing of at least eight members of the 21-country World Heritage committee as it lobbies to quell concerns about the impacts of industrial emissions on Indigenous rock art at Murujuga and have the Western Australia site inscribed on the World Heritage list.

The federal environment minister, Murray Watt, has been in Paris for the meeting since Wednesday, alongside a delegation from the WA state government and the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation, which has led the nomination.

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Palestinian woman, 61, who fled Gaza detained by authorities after pre-dawn raid in Sydney

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Maha Almassri told she had failed a visa character check and taken to Bankstown police station, then Villawood detention centre, cousin says

A Palestinian woman who arrived in Australia from Gaza has been detained by immigration authorities after a pre-dawn raid in Sydney.

Maha Almassri, 61, was woken by about 15 Australian Border Force officers at her son’s home in western Sydney at about 5.30am on Thursday, her cousin Mohammed Almassri told Guardian Australia.

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‘One in a million’: teen surfer found on remote island 14km off Australian coast

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A search involving Marine Rescue NSW, police, PolAir and locals on and around Wooli beach led to Darcy Deefholts, 19, being rescued

A 19-year-old surfer is stable in hospital after being found safe on a remote island off the northern New South Wales coast of Australia in an outcome his dad described as “one in a million”.

Darcy Deefholts’ family were “fearing for the worst”, his father, Terry, said in an urgent post to Facebook calling for rescue help on Wednesday night.

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Segal says stripping universities of funding a ‘last resort’ – as it happened

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This blog is now closed

Australia’s biggest peanut supplier set to shut down

The corporate owners of Australia’s biggest peanut processor will scale down the century-old business in the coming 18 months before shutting it down for good.

There isn’t detail, and it’s unclear whether those tariffs will ever actually be applied.

We do know that the contributions from the pharmaceutical industry in the US to that investigation has been to urge the US government to focus their levers on non-friendly countries and not apply tariffs or punitive levers to allies such as Australia.

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Court rejects developer’s bid to turn Sydney boarding house into luxury apartments

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Lord mayor Clover Moore says city ‘should not simply be an enclave for the rich’ and hopes case sets precedent

A court has rejected a developer’s bid to turn a boarding house into luxury apartments in a case the lord mayor of Sydney hopes will set a precedent to stop the ongoing loss of affordable housing.

In the wake of the court’s decision the mayor, Clover Moore, has also called on the Minns government to allow significant loss of individual homes as a ground for rejecting development applications.

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Abandoned van found in search for missing German backpacker Carolina Wilga in remote WA

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The 26-year-old has not been seen or heard from since visiting a general store in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt region

Police searching for German backpacker Carolina Wilga, who is missing in a remote part of Western Australia, have found an abandoned van believed to have mechanical issues.

The 26-year-old has not been seen or heard from since she visited a general store in the small town of Beacon, in WA’s north-east Wheatbelt region, on 29 June.

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Universities and artists face funding threat under antisemitism plan being considered by Australian government

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Antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal also urges Labor government to bolster education and seek new powers to deport visitors

Universities and artists would have funding withheld if they fail to act against antisemitism, AI tools would be banned from sharing Jewish hatred, and the government would have new grounds to deport visitors under a wide-ranging plan put forward by Australia’s antisemitism envoy.

The federal Labor government has not committed to the plan in full, with the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, saying he would consider the recommendations of his handpicked envoy, Jillian Segal, which also propose her office would “monitor” media coverage and bolster education in schools and workplaces.

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Police investigating video claiming responsibility for torching cars at Israel-linked weapons business in Melbourne

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Video raises prospect of further vandalism or targeted action as anonymous group says ‘Stop arming Israel or else’

Victoria police are investigating a video of a person claiming credit for the vandalism of three cars outside a defence industry business linked to Israel, while clad in a black balaclava and standing in front of a Palestinian flag.

The person, whose voice is digitally altered in a video seen by Guardian Australia, claims to represent an “anonymous cell” that torched three cars at Lovitt Technologies. The company supplies parts to the global F-35 joint strike fighter program.

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Labor to move quickly on special envoy’s plan to combat antisemitism

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Jillian Segal to present recommendations urging government to take stronger action against abuse toward Jewish Australians

The federal government will move quickly to adopt new recommendations from the special envoy to combat antisemitism, with a suite of measures expected to include education and online safety in response to the arson attack at a Melbourne synagogue.

Jillian Segal is expected to appear alongside Anthony Albanese at an event on Thursday to present recommendations urging the government to take stronger action against abuse toward Jewish Australians.

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Queensland police charged woman with driving offences while she was fleeing domestic violence

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Magistrate throws out case against woman, saying she had been trying to escape an ‘extraordinary emergency’

A Queensland court has thrown out the police case against a woman who was charged with driving offences while fleeing domestic violence with her dog.

The Gympie magistrates court accepted the unchallenged evidence of the woman – referred to as ESC – that she drove while disqualified after her violent partner threatened to kill her dog.

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In Australia, the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the UK, call the national domestic abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247, or visit Women’s Aid. In the US, the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines may be found via www.befrienders.org

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Australia news live: Chalmers ‘urgently seeking more detail’ after Trump flags 200% pharmaceutical tariffs; head-on collision on Sydney Harbour Bridge

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Treasurer says Trump’s tariff threats on foreign pharmaceuticals and copper ‘very concerning developments’. Follow the latest news live

Chalmers says millions of people were hoping for interest rate relief yesterday

Jim Chalmers says “there were millions of people who were hoping for more rate relief yesterday and didn’t get it”.

As per letters sent to various countries yesterday, in addition to letters that will be sent today, tomorrow, and for the next short period of time, TARIFFS WILL START BEING PAID ON AUGUST 1, 2025. There has been no change to this date, and there will be no change. In other words, all money will be due and payable starting AUGUST 1, 2025 - No extensions will be granted. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

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RecipeTin Eats cook upset her beef wellington recipe ‘entangled’ in Erin Patterson murder case

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Convicted murderer told trial she made multiple changes to Nagi Maehashi’s recipe in preparing the fatal lunch two years ago

Nagi Maehashi, the cook behind RecipeTin Eats, says it is “upsetting” to have become “entangled in a tragic situation” after Erin Patterson told her triple murder trial she used the beef wellington recipe for the fateful lunch.

In a post to Instagram on Tuesday, Maehashi requested that journalists of Australia “please stop calling and emailing and texting and DM’ing me about the Erin Patterson case”.

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Australians could cut power bills by 90% if they made their homes more energy efficient, report finds

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Debate on how to generate energy ‘important but misses the point’, analyst says, when you can get such savings by using solar, batteries and efficient appliances

The debate over where Australia gets its energy from has played out like a “comic-book death battle between coal and renewables” in recent years, according to Luke Menzel, the chief executive officer of the Energy Efficiency Council.

Discussions over coal versus renewables, the role of gas and the speed of infrastructure rollout to bring renewables online had been “important”, Menzel said. “But there’s a whole other conversation we need to be having. And that’s about how we are using energy.”

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‘Serious animal welfare concerns’: Australian authorities investigate alleged breach of livestock export rules

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Animal rights group claims sheep in Jordanian slaughterhouse were killed in a manner that was a ‘direct breach’ of Australia’s supply chain assurance system

Warning: Graphic content

Australian authorities are investigating claims that sheep exported to the Middle East have been mistreated at a local abattoir – the sixth investigation involving sheep shipped by Perth-based exporter Livestock Shipping services in seven years.

The investigation relates to allegations sheep at the Hijazi & Ghosheh slaughterhouse near Amman in Jordan, which is approved and inspected under Australia’s export supply chain assurance system (Escas), were killed in a way which breached those guidelines. It is the second time the slaughterhouse has been reported for alleged breach of Escas rules in two years.

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‘Fungi fatale’ and ‘death cap stare’: how the world’s media reported Erin Patterson’s guilty verdict

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For more than two months, the Australian mushroom triple-murder trial has gripped the world – here’s how it finished up on the front page

The murder trial has spawned podcasts, documentaries, thousands of column inches, viral social media posts – and a rapt global audience.

After a week of deliberation, a supreme court jury found Victorian woman Erin Patterson guilty of three counts of murder and one of attempted murder after three guests died and one almost died after eating her homemade beef wellington lunch.

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