Category Archives: Australia news

Vanuatu calls on Australia to back its UN bid to recognise climate change harm

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Pacific islands urge new Labor government to support push for international court of justice to issue climate advisory opinion

Australia’s new Labor government has been called on to prove its commitment to climate action and support for Pacific countries by backing a campaign led by Vanuatu to see international law changed to recognise climate change harm.

In a letter to the prime minister sent by leading Pacific and Australian NGOs, shared exclusively with Guardian Australia, the groups urged Anthony Albanese to support Vanuatu’s campaign for the international court of justice to issue an advisory opinion on the question of climate change.

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Heavy industries in Australia’s regions could cut emissions by 80% and create a jobs bonanza, report says

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Business leaders and decarbonisation experts say a high level of collaboration and coordination is needed for transition

The regional powerhouses of Australia’s industrial economy could slash their greenhouse gas emissions by more than 80% and become centres for multibillion-dollar investments in renewable energy, according to a report backed by some of the country’s biggest companies.

Bringing down emissions from producing iron, steel, aluminium, chemicals and liquefied natural gas is seen as one of the most challenging parts of Australia’s efforts to reach net zero.

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Under-55s and higher educated voters propelled Labor to victory, study finds

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Labor was more popular with women, ANU study finds, but difference ‘mostly due to a higher vote for the Greens’

Labor was propelled to victory over Scott Morrison by women, under-55s and those with higher levels of education, with people in the latter two groups most likely to have abandoned the Coalition since the 2019 election.

Those are the findings of a survey of 3,500 voters by the Australian National University and researchers at the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems, released on Monday.

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‘Stakes never higher’: energy board releases capacity market blueprint

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Energy Security Board says fossil fuel generators might need to be paid to stay in business to retain capacity

Coal- and gas-fired power plants could be paid to stay in business to bolster the stability of the main electricity grid and attract enough investment to build the equivalent of 50 times the original Snowy Hydro scheme by 2050, according to a high-level design paper released by the Energy Security Board.

The fossil fuel generators would be required even as Australia continues to decarbonise the electricity sector, the paper released on Monday said.

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Australia yet to sign up to treaty banning nuclear weapons but will attend UN meeting as observer

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Exclusive: Anthony Albanese committed Labor to signing the treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons while in opposition

Australia will attend – as an observer – a UN meeting of countries that have outlawed nuclear weapons, parties to a treaty Anthony Albanese championed in opposition and committed Labor to ratifying in government.

Government backbencher Susan Templeman’s attendance at the meeting in Vienna on Tuesday comes as a group of 55 former Australian ambassadors and high commissioners have written an open letter to the prime minister urging the government to sign up to the treaty, which outright prohibits the development, testing, production and use of nuclear weapons.

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‘Quick jumpstart’: NSW to spend $38m to speed up EV uptake

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Exclusive: state budget funds to go towards boosting number of charging points in apartment blocks and on streets

The New South Wales government will invest $38m to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles by building more charging sites, including for apartment buildings and roadsides.

The extra funds, to be unveiled in Tuesday’s budget, will bring to $633m the money being spent on NSW’s strategy aimed at ensuring half of all car sales by 2030-31 are electric.

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Australia live news updates: Burke blames high inflation on Coalition’s ‘neglect’; at least 42 Covid deaths

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Employment minister says inflation not being driven by high wage growth; opposition leader takes aim at Labor and avoids voicing support for government’s renewable target; nation records at least 42 Covid deaths – follow all the day’s news live

Dutton is being grilled (again) on where he got information that the United States could provide two nuclear submarines to Australia by the end of the decade.

Speers presses Dutton on whether he used classified information to make that point, eventually gleaning from the opposition leader it was a “commonsense conclusion”.

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‘Final resting place’: sacred Indigenous objects returned to Australia from US university

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Warlpiri delegation from Yuendumu, north-west of Alice Springs, has collected the seven objects from University of Virginia

Seven sacred Indigenous objects have been returned to central Australia from an American university.

A delegation of Warlpiri men from Yuendumu, north-west of Alice Springs, collected the objects after they were repatriated from the University of Virginia last week.

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‘Fault all round’: Peter Dutton aims to deflect blame for Australia’s energy crisis

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Liberal leader says Coalition made ‘huge investments’ in renewables when in power and blames states for locking up gas reserves

The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has sought to deflect blame for the national energy crisis, saying there is “fault all round”, while blaming states for locking up gas reserves.

In a wide-ranging interview on the ABC on Sunday, the former defence minister also rejected suggestions he had relied on classified information to claim Australia could access two new Virginia-class submarines from the US by 2030, and held back support for an Indigenous voice to parliament.

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New South Wales to trial $780m shared equity scheme for first homebuyers

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State government to fund 40% of purchase for single parents, older singles, nurses, police and teachers

The New South Wales government has announced a shared equity trial to help single parents, older singles, nurses, police and teachers to buy their first home.

The $780m shared equity scheme was announced by the state government on Sunday ahead of its state budget on Tuesday, which will include a broader $2.8bn package to address the housing crisis.

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Australian relay women win 4x100m gold at world championships

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  • Elijah Winnington claims 400m freestyle gold in Budapest final
  • Women’s relay win 4x100m gold with fifth-fastest time in history

Elijah Winnington has powered to his first global gold while the all-conquering 4x100m relay women won again to give Australia the perfect flying start to the world swimming championships.

Winnington earned redemption after his Olympic disappointment, speeding to an emphatic victory in the 400m freestyle, the first final of the entire week-long programme in Budapest, on Saturday.

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Bluebird days: bumper snow and clear skies welcome relief for Australia’s ski resorts

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Pandemic-hit resorts in Victoria and NSW celebrate perfect conditions and more forecast snow

The bumper start to the Australian snow season has continued, with perfect conditions and “bluebird days” at resorts this weekend and more snow forecast for the alps in the coming week.

Early snowfall has already seen decades-long records broken across Victoria and New South Wales, where resorts at Mt Buller, Thredbo and Perisher were able to open well before the official start to the snow season on the June long weekend.

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Large fire at Illawarra substation not expected to impact energy supply

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More than 60 NSW firefighters dispatched to the scene at Yallah, near Wollongong, to contain the fire

A large fire at an electrical substation in the Illawarra had been contained early on Saturday night, with the operator confident it would not impact on energy supply.

The fire started about 3pm at the substation on the Princes Highway at Yallah, south of Dapto, New South Wales police said in a statement.

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Victorian Greens leader ousts party’s state convener over past comments about trans people

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Parliamentary leader Samantha Ratnam says she acted under party rules to overturn the recent election of Linda Gale

The leader of the Victorian Greens has ousted the party’s controversial state convener after successfully applying to have recent election results set aside.

Linda Gale, a senior industrial officer at the National Tertiary Education Union, was elected last Saturday to fill a casual vacancy as state convener of the Victorian Greens, despite co-authoring a 2019 paper that had been labelled “transphobic”.

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Wallaroos defeated by Canada in stormy Pacific Four finale

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  • Australia fly home from Pacific Four tournament winless
  • Wallaroos face back-to-back Tests against Black Ferns in August

Australia’s womens rugby team, the Wallaroos, have been defeated 22-10 in a brave performance against world No 4 Canada in the wild weather of Whangarei, on New Zealand’s North Island.

The world No 8 ranked Wallaroos led the Pacific Four game early, after pushing the ball to the edges where winger Lori Cramer kicked ahead for halfback Layne Morgan to chase it down, snatch it up and win a penalty five metres out. A good leap at the line-out from lock Michaela Leonard secured possession for a fine forward drive for the line and hooker Ashley Marsters duly planted it over the stripe.

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Queensland cafe manager admits ‘little joke’ over Kardashian has turned into an ‘unbelievable mess’

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Matt Black says his claim the reality TV star and her boyfriend Pete Davidson had dined at restaurant had gotten twisted

It was a story that sparked chaos and excitement for a small cafe in far north Queensland.

On Thursday, in an interview with the ABC, the manager of a Cairns cafe claimed Kim Kardashian had joined her comedian boyfriend Pete Davidson for a meal the day before – in what appears to have been a hoax.

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Wildcard Kyrgios cruises into Halle semis after blowing away Busta

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  • Kyrgios into semis after defeating Pablo Carreno Busta 6-4 6-2
  • Australian No 2 on the verge of reaching his first grass-court final

With no histrionics and no dramas, just pure, no-nonsense enjoyment, Nick Kyrgios has roared into the semi-finals of the Halle grass-court tournament.

The Australian, so often sidetracked from his own brilliance by unnecessary distractions, was the model of businesslike concentration on Friday - with just the odd showman’s trick chucked in - as he blew away Top 20 baseliner Pablo Carreno Busta 6-4 6-2.

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Albanese urged to intervene in Assange case; Perrottet defends Barilaro job; at least 55 Covid deaths – as it happened

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NSW premier says John Barilaro’s new role ‘no surprise’ to him; government ministers say Assange case ‘should be brought to a close’. This blog is now closed

Could an eighth world title be in the offing?

AAP reports:

Once I got past Caroline [Marks], I was super confident and I knew I could do it.

Lakey [Peterson] is an amazing surfer, so I knew it was going to be a tough Final but it doesn’t get any better. I love doing this. I love winning, I love doing this sport.

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Catholic church uses paedophile priest’s death as shield against new allegations in NSW

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Lismore diocese wins halt on civil case after arguing woman had never complained before Clarence Anderson died in 1996

The Catholic church has used the death of a known paedophile priest to shield itself from being sued over new complaints of child sexual abuse.

Earlier this month, the Lismore diocese won its argument for a permanent stay of civil proceedings brought by a woman who was 14 years old when she was allegedly sexually assaulted by Father Clarence Anderson in 1968 inside her family home.

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Aboriginal people make up vast majority of pedestrian deaths in NT

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Families call for change as data shows Indigenous people on foot dying at a troubling rate

Kumanjayi Napurrula Dixon took the route 74 bus through Darwin’s outer south-eastern suburbs, got off at the last stop, and kept walking south along the Stuart Highway.

It was a Monday night, and the Anmatyerre grandmother was going to see her family at their camp near Coolalinga. She never made it. Between getting off the bus and making it to camp, she was allegedly hit by a car and died.

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