Category Archives: Australia news

First of three Nasa rockets to take off from Northern Territory space centre

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Rocket carrying instruments to study the evolution of the universe will be Nasa’s first launch from commercial port outside US

The first of three Nasa rockets scheduled to launch from the Northern Territory is due to take off on Sunday night, carrying precision instruments that will give scientists new data on the evolution of the cosmos.

If all goes according to plan, the rocket will take off from the Arnhem Space Centre on the Dhupuma plateau, near Nhulunbuy, at 10.44pm local time on Sunday.

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Education system ‘run by Marxists’: Jason Clare takes aim at Liberal senator over comments on teachers

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Hollie Hughes told a Sydney Institute forum parents need to ‘turn the internet off’ as she gave reasons for the party’s election defeat

The education minister has blasted Senator Hollie Hughes for “crazy” comments blaming the Liberals’ low youth vote on “Marxist” teachers.

On Sunday Labor’s Jason Clare responded to the remarks, made by the New South Wales senator at a Sydney Institute federal election postmortem on Tuesday.

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Australian Taxation Office crackdown on family trust rorts causes alarm among tax advisers

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ATO gives example of child being given $180,000 then repaying it to parents for cost of bringing them up as going against community expectations

A crackdown by the Australian Taxation Office on rorts involving family trusts has drawn alarm from some advisers as some of the practices under the microscope have become common practice.

Tax advisers are also concerned at the prospect the ATO will be examining the past behaviour of family trusts, raising the prospect of bills for back taxes, inflated by years of interest and penalties.

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‘Things aren’t going back’: Australia braces for step-up in China’s Pacific push

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Despite initial relief over island nations’ rejection of security and economic pact, senior government figure says reprieve could be only temporary

The Australian government is bracing for China to step up its push to expand influence in the Pacific, with a senior figure privately conceding Canberra has a lot of work to do to regain lost trust and strengthen regional unity.

Despite initial relief at a decision by Pacific island countries to defer a sweeping 10-country security and economic pact proposed by China, the Australian government now believes this may be only a temporary reprieve.

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Australia’s first fixed pill testing site to launch in Canberra with hopes of sparking a national initiative

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Organisers say the centre is a ‘real watershed’ moment and will open two nights a week from 19 July

Australia’s first fixed pill testing site will be up and running within weeks, and the organisers hope it could be the start of a national program.

A pill testing trial at Canberra’s Groovin the Moo festival in 2019 potentially saved seven lives after the program detected “toxic” chemicals mixed into drugs.

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Daniel Andrews names Jacinta Allan as Victoria’s deputy premier after senior ministers resign

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Allan was endorsed unanimously by the Victorian Labor caucus to replace James Merlino ahead of the November state election

The Victorian government has unveiled the frontbench it expects to take to the November state election and crowned a new deputy premier.

Transport infrastructure minister Jacinta Allan will replace James Merlino as deputy premier, after he was one of four senior Labor ministers to announce their retirement and step down from cabinet on Friday.

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O’Callaghan’s hat-trick of gold, as mixed relay smash world record

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  • Mollie O’Callaghan leads mixed relay team to WR time in 4x100m
  • Kaylee McKeown takes gold in 200m backstroke at world championships

Mollie O’Callaghan has made it a hat-trick of golds while leading the mixed 4x100m relay quartet to Australia’s first global landmark at this year’s world swimming championships.

And Kaylee McKeown has underlined her standing as one of Australia’s marquee swimmers with her first world championship triumph in the 200m backstroke in Budapest on a milestone penultimate day for the Dolphins.

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Victoria names new ministers; Penny Wong to travel to south-east Asia – as it happened

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Jacinta Allan appointed Victoria’s new deputy premier; Australia records at least 56 Covid deaths and Penny Wong to travel to Vietnam and Malaysia. This blog is now closed

There have been 21 Covid deaths in NSW. 1,453 people have been hospitalised, and 45 are in intensive care:

US president Joe Biden is calling on Americans to vote for officials who will restore abortion rights. This is how he described the overturning of Roe v Wade earlier:

So extreme that women could be punished for protecting their health.

So extreme that women and girls who are forced to bear their rapist’s child – of the child of consequence.

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Factions, new blood and Jeff Kennett: Daniel Andrews’ dilemma after losing four ministers

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Analysis: Victorian premier has five months to introduce a new leadership group to voters

A lot of comparisons can made between Victorian premiers Daniel Andrews and Jeff Kennett, though, being from opposite sides of politics, neither of them will likely admit it.

Both are considered crash-through leaders, either loved or loathed. Both have shaped their state, either for better or worse – depending on whom you ask.

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Orange roughy: campaigners call for limit to trawling of species after breeding age of 73 revealed

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Australian fisheries management says there are regional differences and new data only applies to population in New Zealand

Ocean campaigners say that a New Zealand fishing fleet that trawls for orange roughy in waters off Tasmania should be “sent back” in light of new data about the vulnerable species.

Orange roughy is an endangered deep-sea species which, under Australia’s environmental laws, can still be fished in approved fisheries.

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Adani drops $600m claim against Queensland activist and seeks $17m instead

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Mining giant claims Ben Pennings sought to disrupt operations of the Carmichael coalmine, its suppliers and contractors

Mining giant Adani has revealed it was seeking to claim more than $600m in damages from an environmental activist, a figure it has now dropped from its civil case against Ben Pennings.

Adani claims Pennings, as the national spokesperson of the group Galilee Blockade, sought to disrupt the operations of the Carmichael coalmine, its suppliers and contractors.

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Calls to expand access to Covid antivirals in Australia splits experts and doctors

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Health minister encourages Paxlovid and Lagevrio use, but peak GP body cautions drugs can have side-effects if taken with some other drugs

Doctors and experts are split over calls to expand the eligibility for leading Covid antiviral drugs Paxlovid and Lagevrio, with some saying access should be widened while others warn the medication isn’t right for everyone.

The federal health minister, Mark Butler, is encouraging doctors and patients to consider the drugs, which can be effective at lessening the virus’s symptoms if taken soon after contracting Covid.

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‘Slap in the face’: independents furious at PM’s decision to cut advisory staff from four to one

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Anthony Albanese’s move to reduce crossbench staffers to pre-Coalition levels met with outrage

Furious independent MPs and senators have accused the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, of an “attack on democracy” after he decided to slash their staff allocation in one of his first dealings with the newly expanded crossbench.

One Nation has threatened to reject all government legislation as their “default position”, while crucial Senate vote David Pocock called the decision “extremely damaging” to the relationship with the crossbench. The Greens also claimed they have been given an effective staff cut, allocated the same number of staff as the last parliament despite their representatives growing from 10 to 16.

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PRGuy unmasks himself in video with Friendlyjordies after legal threat by Avi Yemini

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Jeremy Maluta reveals he is behind pro-Labor Twitter account PRGuy17 but says he has no media experience or connection to Daniel Andrews

The man behind the formerly anonymous pro-Labor Twitter account PRGuy17 has unmasked himself, after far-right figure Avi Yemini attempted to use the courts to reveal whether the account had ties to the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews.

Jeremy Maluta told YouTuber Friendlyjordies in a video released on Friday that he has no PR or social media experience, works in an industry completely unrelated to politics or the media, and has no connections to Andrews.

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Judith Neilson’s daughter and lawyer join institute’s board after directors quit in protest

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Billionaire’s plans to change direction of the media-focused organisation she funded sparked board unrest

The Judith Neilson Institute has appointed the billionaire philanthropist’s lawyer and daughter to the board as Neilson cements her control of the $100m in journalism support she pledged in 2018.

The two new directors – daughter Beau Neilson, the creative director of Phoenix Central Park, and lawyer Daniel Appleby, a director on the Judith Neilson Head Trust – were appointed at a JNI board meeting on Thursday.

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Queenslanders embraced Greens because they saw politics was broken, says Adam Bandt

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Flush from winning three seats in Brisbane, Bandt debunked the myth that sunshine state residents are conservative

Far from being “inherently conservative”, as the political class assumed them to be, Queenslanders in fact went into the federal election with a “better understanding that politics was broken”, according to Greens leader Adam Bandt.

Bandt made the comments on Friday as he became the first Australian Green to address the Queensland Media Club in its 17-year history, but not before he had to deal with an elephant in the room when thanking the event’s sponsors, among whom was the Brisbane Airport Corporation.

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China ambassador tells Australian protesters ‘no such thing as absolute freedom’

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Xiao Qian says there is no reason for China and Australia to be enemies as his address is interrupted by protests

China’s ambassador to Australia has declared there is “no such thing as absolute freedom” as he defended his country’s human rights record during a speech in Sydney.

Facing repeated interruptions from protesters, Xiao Qian said on Friday there was no reason the two countries should be enemies but they should respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity – phrasing that indicates Australia should moderate its comments about Taiwan and Hong Kong.

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Get smashing: avocado growers want consumers to buy more amid fruit glut

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Fruit oversupply plus rising cost of fertiliser, fuel and freight means producers are going backwards, Avocados Australia boss says

Avocado growers are pleading with customers to buy more of the fruit, as a glut in supply sends prices to a historic low.

Across the country, the oversupply of avocados has seen prices drop dramatically – with the fruit going for as little as $1 in some stores.

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‘Considerable strain’: how Australian officials saw the China rift

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Officials kept in ‘regular contact’ with Chinese embassy even as Morrison government ministers frozen out, FoI documents shows

Australian officials stayed in “regular contact” with the Chinese embassy in Canberra to “explain our decisions” even when Australian ministers were subjected to a two-year diplomatic freeze, newly released documents show.

The former Morrison government had been “willing to engage with China in dialogue at any time”, according to Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade briefing notes, which also described the relationship as being under “considerable strain”.

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Australia live news updates: Anthony Albanese to meet EU president; NSW Greens criticise police ‘overreach’ against climate activists

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NSW Greens criticise ‘overreach’ of police operation against climate activists; Anthony Albanese leaving Sunday for Europe visit; protester interrupts Chinese ambassador’s Sydney address; Chris Bowen says energy market has returned to ‘normal market conditions’; report of aged care providers operating at a loss; nation records at least 46 Covid deaths. Follow the day’s news

Qantas is forecasting a loss of up to $550m this year, despite strong demand for domestic and international flights allowing it to reduce its net debt to $4bn by the end of this financial year.

That’s a $1.5bn improvement in the past six months.

We don’t want a circumstance whereby there’s risk to Australian personnel by undertaking such a visit, but we’ll take that advice and we’ll act accordingly.

We’ve formed a special bond with Ukraine. President Zelenskiy is one of the century’s great heroes, and he’s provided inspiration not only to his people but to the rest of the world as well.

I hope that we can visit in due course and if the prime minister is able to visit, if that’s the security advice he’s received, that it’s safe for him and for his delegation to visit, then I think it’s entirely appropriate that he would.

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