Category Archives: Australia news

Coalition accused of sitting on environment report to avoid delivering ‘more bad news’

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Calls for report to be released before election so voters know ‘official state’ of environment under Morrison government

The Morrison government has been accused of sitting on a major report card on the state of Australia’s environment it received more than three months ago to avoid “more bad news”.

Labor, the Greens, the independent MP Zali Steggall, environment groups and scientists have called on the government to release the Australia State of the Environment report, which is produced by scientists and compiled every five years.

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Life after prison: Victoria expands jobs program for ex-offenders in bid to reduce recidivism

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Inquiry has found unemployment a key compounding factor in people returning to jail

Domestic violence and sexual assault survivor Grace* knows first-hand the discrimination experienced by ex-prisoners while job hunting.

The 27-year-old floated between the criminal justice system and attempts to find work, having been locked up for theft and drug possession.

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Australia’s first-home buyers urged to ‘go in with eyes wide open’ about future rate rises

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The good news is more places on offer in the first home guarantee scheme. The bad news could be higher mortgage repayments

Laura Valencic has never had the luxury of calling the “bank of mum and dad” to help her buy a home.

After the federal government announced more places under the first home guarantee scheme in the budget, Valencic feels like she finally has an in. But she’s wary of a potential pitfall in the future: will she be able to afford the mortgage repayments when interest rates rise?

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NSW principal’s Harvard scholarship paused due to school investigation

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Education department probes complaints about Katoomba high school’s response to claims of harassment among students

The principal of a Blue Mountains high school has had a prestigious Harvard scholarship put on hold while her school is investigated by the New South Wales Department of Education.

The internal departmental investigation comes on top of two court cases involving staff or students at the school.

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Australian federal police demand parties commit to ‘far-reaching anti-corruption body’

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Police say current anti-corruption regime is unequal and holds law enforcement to a higher standard than politicians

Thousands of Australian Federal Police (AFP) members are demanding the next commonwealth government establish a strong anti-corruption commission that equally investigates politicians and law enforcement, saying police are being unfairly blamed for gaps in the nation’s integrity system.

The Australian Federal Police Association, which represents 4,000 AFP members, has placed the establishment of a “far-reaching anti-corruption body” among its highest priorities ahead of the federal election, alongside improved support for officers suffering post-traumatic stress disorder, greater resourcing, and stronger firearms regulations.

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Australia news live updates: MPs respond to Morrison criticism; 20 Covid deaths; major Optus mobile network outage

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Foreign and defence ministers label Putin a ‘war criminal’; major Optus mobile network outage; ministers respond to criticism of Scott Morrison; NSW records 12 Covid deaths and 19,183 new infections; Victoria records eight deaths and 12,007 new infections. Follow all the latest updates live

Another senior Liberal has taken aim at Scott Morrison, accusing him of “self-serving ruthless bullying” and claiming he has “ruined” the Liberal party.

Catherine Cusack, a NSW Liberal who announced two weeks ago she would resign from the Legislative Council over her anger about flood relief, adds her voice to a growing chorus of critics of Morrison from within his own party in an opinion piece for Guardian Australia.

The concerns over the prime minister’s character are now well established, and they’re well established not by the Labor party, but the people who know him best.

I mean his own deputy prime minister called him a liar and a hypocrite*. These people know him best, they’ve served in cabinet with him, in the Liberal party with him over a period of many years ...

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Hosting two Rugby World Cups is an opportunity Australia cannot afford to fumble | Bret Harris

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Tournaments on home soil in 2027 and 2029 present a once-in-a-generation chance to revive the men’s game and grow the women’s

Australian rugby has been given a once-in-a-generation opportunity to revitalise the game in this country with the prospect of hosting back-to-back men’s and women’s World Cups only two years apart. In a tremendous fillip for the game, Australia was on Monday named the preferred candidate to host the women’s World Cup in 2029, along with the men’s tournament in 2027.

The dual World Cups have put Australia in a superb position to capitalise on the enormous global popularity of rugby, with the potential to deliver a much-needed financial boost. But it is an opportunity Australian rugby cannot afford to fumble as poor performances in the home tournaments would be disastrous for the game.

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Blue Mountains landslide: British father and son killed as two other family members in critical condition

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A fifth member of the family, who were holidaying in Australia from the UK, is being treated for shock

Crews have worked into the night to retrieve the bodies of a British man and his son after five members of the same family were caught in a landslip in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney.

The nine-year-old boy and his 49-year-old father died at the scene at Wentworth Pass, New South Wales police said.

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Adopted people can have biological parents on birth certificates under Victorian bill

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Forced adoptions inquiry recommended names of birth parents be included on birth certificates

Legislation to be introduced to Victoria’s parliament on Tuesday will allow adopted people to have both their birth and adoptive parents included on their birth certificates for the first time.

Under the current law, people who have been adopted in Victoria are issued a new birth certificate with their adoptive name and the name of their adoptive parents. Their original birth certificate is stamped with “cancelled” or “adopted”.

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Aged care sector calls for funding detail on election commitments

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Major parties urged to spell out more policy and make system sustainable, as Anglicare launches wage-rise campaign for carers

Health advocates have welcomed the elevation of aged care as a headline issue early in the federal election campaign, backing Labor’s policy pledges but warning that changes could have “unintended consequences” without further consultation.

One leading aged care voice has challenged both major parties to outline exactly how they plan to fund the sector against the backdrop of an ageing Australian population, claiming current rules would see the pay of nursing home staff go backwards this year.

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Hundreds of thousands of fish dead after NSW floods

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Scientists find fish that could normally tolerate low oxygen levels among those killed in Richmond river

Hundreds of thousands of fish have died after recent flooding in northern New South Wales caused “severe deoxygenation” of rivers, with researchers alarmed at discovering carcasses of species that traditionally tolerate lower oxygen levels.

Scientists are still researching the full of extent of the destruction to marine life along the Richmond river, where multiple fish kill events occurred following flooding in late February and early March. The flooding led to a total lack of oxygen in a 60km stretch of the waterway, between Coraki and Ballina on the northern NSW coast.

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Australia anxious to show it didn’t ‘drop the ball’ on Pacific after China and Solomon Islands deal

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Canberra must walk a delicate line when responding to challenges presented by Beijing and Solomons’ security agreement

As China makes progress on a security deal with Solomon Islands, the Australian government is anxious not to be seen to have “dropped the ball” in the Pacific region. That would be a tad embarrassing, given it has spent the past few years sounding the alarm about security threats from China while also trumpeting its own “Pacific Step-Up”.

The deputy prime minister, Barnaby Joyce, has been one of the ministers on the defensive after leaked documents revealed the draft agreement between China and the Pacific island nation.

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Australia news live updates: two feared dead in Blue Mountains landslide; Peter Gutwein resigns as premier of Tasmania

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Outgoing Tasmanian premier says time to focus on family after two years of Covid; rescue operation under way in Blue Mountains; state member for Lismore questions federal flood support effort as NSW announces relief package; changes to Victorian Covid isolation rules would be ‘premature’, Jaala Pulford says; at least 14 Covid deaths recorded. Follow all the day’s news

NSW has reported 15,572 new cases and six deaths overnight:

Bruce Baird, the former member for Cook, Scott Morrison’s current seat, has come out and defended the PM against allegations he racially vilified a contender in a preselection battle in 2007.

He [Morrison] worked with me for two years when I was on the Tourism Council and I never heard him use racist terms.

I’m sure that people who are opponents of Scott and of the Liberal party would raise it for their own reasons, and Towke was feeling concerned because he’d lost the preselection … but in terms of all my dealings, and I was around him all the time, never once did I hear that allegation.

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Coalition tries for third time to let renewable energy agency fund technologies using fossil fuels

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New rules could allow Arena to back developments that use CCS, such as that of ‘blue’ hydrogen made with gas, Senate hears

The Morrison government has launched a third attempt to change the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Arena) to allow it to fund a broader range of technologies, including some using fossil fuels.

The Senate has twice in the past year used a disallowance motion to block new regulations introduced by the energy and emissions reduction minister, Angus Taylor, to expand Arena’s remit to include backing technologies such as hydrogen made with gas and carbon capture and storage (CCS).

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Western Australia claim Sheffield Shield title 23 years in the making

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  • WA draw final against Victoria to secure title last won in 1999
  • Aaron Hardie ends unbeaten on 174 on day five at the Waca

Western Australia have won the Sheffield Shield for the first time in the 21st century after the final against Victoria ended in a draw at the Waca Ground.

A massive century from young allrounder Aaron Hardie ended any hope of a Victoria win on day five, and both captains agreed at the end of the morning session that an outright result was impossible leaving the match declared a draw.

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Cyril Rioli goes public with racism claims at Hawthorn

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  • Indigenous star says president’s ‘joke’ comments were ‘final straw’
  • Rioli says ‘gaslighting’ at club hastened his retirement in 2018

Jeff Kennett has come under increasing pressure to step down as president of AFL club Hawthorn after allegations about the treatment of star Indigenous player Cyril Rioli that led to the four-time premiership star’s premature AFL retirement in 2018 at the age of just 28.

In a report in The Age on Saturday, Rioli said he will not return to the club while Kennett remains in his post. The four-time flag hero’s stance is the result of a series of issues that Rioli said fractured the relationship between Hawthorn and its Indigenous players during his time there between 2008 and 2018.

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Uninsured flood victims can receive up to $20,000 payment under NSW scheme

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Money can be used for repairs to gas and electricity services, rebuilding, and purchase of white goods

Uninsured residents in flood-affected areas of New South Wales can apply for new cash payments, as recovery efforts continue after the state’s second major flooding event in a month.

The premier, Dominic Perrottet, announced the grants of up to $20,000 in Lismore on Monday, his first day back from parental leave.

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Rain wanes but flood warnings remain in place over eastern Victoria as water flows downstream

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Immediate threat of severe weather dissipates but SES warns rivers across Gippsland may still peak as rain water flows through catchments

Flood warnings remain in place in parts of eastern Victoria after heavy rain and strong winds lashed Gippsland overnight.

Moderate flood warnings have been issued for the Mitchell and Snowy Rivers, with minor warnings issued for the Avon, Cann, Genoa, Tambo and Nicholson Rivers. There is also a flood watch warning for East Gippsland and the eastern parts of West and South Gippsland.

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Victoria to restore area five times size of Melbourne with $31m boost to private land conservation

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BushBank scheme aims to revegetate parcels of private land to create habitat for endangered wildlife and capture carbon

The Victorian government plans to restore an area five times the size of Melbourne as part of a new scheme to increase conservation on private land.

The state’s energy, environment and climate change minister, Lily D’Ambrosio, has announced the government will spend $31m to revegetate parcels of private land to create habitat for endangered wildlife and capture carbon.

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Aged care bodies and unions demand Coalition match Labor’s pledge to fund potential wage rises

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Federal opposition says it will pay any increase ordered by Fair Work Commission but Coalition has stopped short of such a guarantee

Aged care industry bodies and unions have criticised the Morrison government for failing to commit to fully fund any pay increases ordered as a result of the sector’s work value case.

Aged and Community Services Australia (ACSA) and Leading Age Services Australia (Lasa) have both warned that providers would not be able to pay the increase meaning the industrial tribunal would need to order a smaller rise – or operators could be forced to close.

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