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...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.
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Continue reading...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...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.
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Continue reading...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...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...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...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...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.
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Continue reading...Defence minister’s attendance at high-level security conference the latest in flurry of diplomatic activity by new Labor government
Australia’s new defence minister, Richard Marles, is preparing to travel to Singapore next week for a high-level security conference and a potential first meeting with his US counterpart.
The trip is the latest in a flurry of diplomatic activity by the new Labor government. The minister for foreign affairs, Penny Wong, has just wound up visits to three Pacific countries and the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is preparing to fly to Indonesia on Sunday.
Continue reading...People planning an overseas trip may face cancelled or delayed travel arrangements as waiting times balloon out
Australians planning an overseas trip are facing the possibility of cancelled or delayed travel plans as the Australian passport office buckles under post-Covid-restrictions demand.
The “unprecedented” passport processing delays have resulted in people queueing for hours at passport offices and people spending hours calling to check for updates on their documents.
Continue reading...Joshua Mason, 23, and his 50-year-old mother, Deborah Mason, likely to plead guilty after victim’s leg was found on Northern Territory highway, lawyer says
A young man allegedly fatally struck a pedestrian with his car before his mother helped load the woman’s body into a ute and the two buried it in bushland outside Darwin, a court has been told.
The discovery of the Indigenous victim’s dismembered leg on the Northern Territory’s Stuart Highway on Tuesday morning triggered a police investigation which lead to the pair’s arrest the next day.
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Continue reading...Atlassian boss Scott Farquhar says he’d be happy to poach Musk’s employees for remote jobs at his software company, which allows staff to work from home
Elon Musk’s order that Tesla workers return to the office has sparked a Twitter spat with Australian billionaire Scott Farquhar, after the Atlassian CEO suggested he would be happy to poach Musk’s staff for remote working positions.
In a memo sent to staff, headlined “Remote work is no longer acceptble” [sic], the Tesla CEO wrote that “anyone who wishes to do remote work must be in the office for a minimum (and I mean *minimum*) of 40 hours a week or depart Tesla. This is less than we ask of factory workers”.
Continue reading...Advocates and key councillor hope the halt is short-lived, but transport union criticises existing lanes
Cycling advocates are holding out hope that a halt on new bike lanes in Melbourne CBD announced Friday will be short-lived, warning of the risks posed by gaps in the network.
The Melbourne lord mayor, Sally Capp, said Friday there would be a “pause” on the construction of dedicated cycling lanes in the CBD. The City of Melbourne council said it would instead prioritise upgrading cycling infrastructure on arterial roads.
Continue reading...Labor government recommends minimum wage be increased in line with inflation; Anthony Albanese says stopping new gas projects ‘doesn’t reflect the needs’ of economy; new monkeypox cases reported in NSW and Victoria; nation records at least 50 Covid deaths. This blog is now closed
‘Pick up the phone and call your energy retailer’
The CEO of the Australian Energy Council, Sarah McNamara, appeared on ABC News Breakfast this morning to discuss the perfect storm the market is currently facing.
It is not a systemic market failure under way but there is a coincidence of factors occurring in the market, putting pressure on the wholesale price and that will put pressure on retail bills as well.
Most consumers won’t experience the kind of wholesale market price spikes we are seeing at the moment. That is because their retailers have hedging contracts to ensure their supply costs are smoothed out over time. However, because there is general upward pressure on prices, people are going to experience higher bills over the coming year.
Continue reading...Anti-corruption watchdog plans to publish its own report on pork-barrelling, ‘including whether and how it relates to corrupt conduct’
The head of the New South Wales anti-corruption watchdog has cited the Berejiklian government’s notorious $252m Stronger Communities fund as a clear example of pork-barrelling, saying almost its sole motive was political, calling it “clearly on the other side of the line”.
Peter Hall QC, the chief commissioner of the state’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac), told a forum, examining the legality of pork-barrelling in politics, that the fund was “on the other side of the line” of what was “permissible”.
Continue reading...Tim Edwards spent 35 hours grinding his work into a glass illusion that took out the $15,000 Tom Malone prize
Artist Tim Edwards has won the prestigious Tom Malone prize for Australian glass art with a work that plays tricks with the viewer’s eye.
The winning work, titled Ellipse #8, is a luminous blue form 47cm tall and from some angles it is difficult to tell whether the glass is two- or three-dimensional. The piece is 3D but not very thick with a depth of just 8mm.
Continue reading...Scathing report finds Department of Social Services has not demonstrated the program is meeting objectives
The auditor general has been highly critical of the former government’s handling of the cashless debit card, finding the Morrison government had not demonstrated whether the scheme was working despite operating trials across the country for more than five years.
A scathing Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) report, tabled in parliament on Thursday, said the Department of Social Services, which ran the program, had “not demonstrated that the CDC program is meeting its intended objectives”.
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Continue reading...Tanya Plibersek seeks ‘urgent briefing’ over Coalition scrapping of recovery plans; NSW man diagnosed with monkeypox; nation records 57 Covid deaths. Follow all the day’s news
Treasurer questioned on staff shortages in hospitality
Amid his media blitz, treasurer Jim Chalmers appeared on Sunrise this morning discussing energy woes.
What are we going to do to alleviate those staff issues and how long is it going to take for that to happen?
Obviously there is a role for cheaper childcare so that if people want to work more and earn more we can tap [into] that really big workforce of parents that find it too hard because they get priced out of work by the childcare system. And we are up for ... conversation with business about migration settings to make sure that they are appropriate so that they are not a substitute for doing those other things at home.
Continue reading...Delay of up to three weeks possible for trial of Bruce Lehrmann, who has pleaded not guilty to assaulting Higgins in Parliament House in 2019
The trial of the man accused of raping Brittany Higgins may be delayed by up to three weeks after his barrister pulled out days before the case was due to be heard.
Bruce Lehrmann, who is charged with sexual intercourse without consent, has pleaded not guilty to assaulting Higgins at Parliament House in Canberra in 2019.
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