Category Archives: Australia news

Australia’s health star rating system exploited by companies making ultra-processed foods, experts say

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Labelling focused on nutrients such as protein or fat distracts from ‘poor quality’ or ‘chemically transformed’ products, according to experts

The food industry in Australia is allowed to use labelling and marketing tactics to distract from the harmful ingredients in ultra-processed foods due its outsize political power, health experts say.

As state, territory and federal health and food ministers meet on Thursday, experts are concerned the current voluntary food labelling regimes are failing to meet international standards for warning consumers against industrial techniques used in food processing.

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‘Inexcusable’: should climate hypocrites get the petrostates label?

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Suggestions definition of petrostate is too narrow as many rich countries that could phase out fossil fuels double down

“Drill, baby, drill!” Donald Trump’s ominous avowal to pump up the oil and gas production of the US has horrified many people around the world about the intentions of the Republican candidate, who has also declared he wants to be “dictator for a day”. Rather than the prospective leader of the free world, the election frontrunner sounds more like the tyrant of a petrostate.

That should not be entirely surprising given the country’s recent record: it has ramped up fossil fuel production to become the world’s biggest producer. As a Guardian investigation reveals, the total number of projected licences by the US for 2024 could lead to an estimated 397m tonnes of planet-heating emissions.

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Revealed: wealthy western countries lead in global oil and gas expansion

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The US and the UK among countries with low dependence on fossil fuels criticized for ‘hypocrisy’ on climate pledges

A surge in new oil and gas production in 2024 threatens to unleash nearly 12bn tonnes of planet-heating emissions, with the world’s wealthiest countries – such as the US and the UK – leading a stampede of fossil fuel expansion in spite of their climate commitments, new data shared exclusively with the Guardian reveals.

The new oil and gas field licences forecast to be awarded across the world this year are on track to generate the highest level of emissions since those issued in 2018, as heatwaves, wildfires, drought and floods cause death and destruction globally, according to analysis of industry data by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD).

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Australian scientists genetically engineer common fly species to eat more of humanity’s waste

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Black soldier flies could help cut planet-warming methane produced when organic waste breaks down, Macquarie University team says

A team of Australian scientists is genetically engineering a common fly species so that it can eat more of humanity’s organic waste while producing ingredients for making everything from lubricants and biofuels to high-grade animal feeds.

Black soldier flies are already being used commercially to consume organic waste, including food waste, but tweaking their genetics could widen the range of waste their larvae consume while, in the process, producing fatty compounds and enzymes.

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NT military exercise suspended after pilot escapes crash – as it happened

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Import ban fails to curb flow of Nazi-linked items

The number of items imported into Australia bearing Nazi imagery has not been slowed by a national ban on the symbols, AAP reports.

The importation into Australia of Nazi memorabilia, both historically genuine items and modern recreations, has not abated with the passage of [the ban].

Where these goods are imported in quantities which indicates the goods are likely to be traded, the Australian Border Force refers the goods to the Australian federal police to consider investigation under the criminal code.

Consumers are crying out for clear information on how to save money, protect their health and reduce emissions – and they want that information online where they make their purchasing decisions.

We call on the state and federal governments to give consumers the real truth about the risks of gas appliances, by mandating comprehensive pollution labels on all their ads and websites.

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Brett Whiteley and Sidney Nolan works among former Melbourne lord mayor’s acollection to be sold at auction

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Twenty artworks from Ron Walker’s deceased estate to go under the hammer, along with seven Arthur Boyd paintings

The former Lord mayor of Melbourne Ron Walker was known for his billion dollar property deals, casino developments and a knack for snaring major sporting events such as the Grand Prix and Commonwealth Games. But tonight a very private passion of the businessman, who amassed an estimated personal fortune of A$978m before his death in 2018, will be on show.

Twenty artworks from Walker’s deceased estate, along with seven Arthur Boyd paintings and one sculpture from the personal collection of the retired Sydney veteran art dealer Denis Savill, will be auctioned off by Smith & Singer (formerly Sotheby’s Australia) in Melbourne. Works by Brett Whiteley, Sidney Nolan, Charles Blackman and Albert Tucker are also among the trove.

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Australia in biggest ‘baby recession’ since 1970s as pandemic birth boom fades

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Sydney has biggest drop in births as economist says couples delaying children because of cost-of-living crisis

Australia is in the grips of a “baby recession”, which some have attributed to rising cost-of-living pressures and economic uncertainty.

The number of births in Australia dropped to 289,100 in 2023, the lowest recorded since 2006, analysis from KPMG Australia showed.

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‘Significant assault’: two staff from Nine’s Olympic broadcast team attacked in Paris in suspected robbery

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The incident follows the alleged sexual assault of an Australian tourist in Paris last weekend

Two Nine Entertainment staff members in Paris to cover the Olympic Games have been attacked in what colleagues have described as a suspected robbery of a “serious physical nature”.

Nine reporter Christine Ahern said the two staff members were working in the international broadcast centre in the northeastern suburbs of Paris and were walking back to their accomodation on Monday afternoon when they were attacked by a group.

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NSW teachers to embrace ‘step by step’ explicit instruction method amid major syllabus shake-up

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State becomes first to mandate methodology in overhaul educators hope will allow disabled and disadvantaged students catch up to their peers

The New South Wales curriculum has had its biggest shakeup in five decades with better connections between subjects, more detailed concepts and skills, and a move away from the student-led approach to learning towards “explicit instruction”.

On Wednesday, new K-6 syllabuses for health, creative arts, human society and its environment, and science were released to teachers, with updated maths and English syllabuses in classrooms from this year.

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Olympic team officials briefed after Australian woman allegedly raped by five men in Paris

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Australian chef de mission Anna Meares says athletes have been advised to take care outside Olympic village after reports of assault

Olympic team officials have been briefed on the alleged sexual assault of an Australian woman in Paris.

French police are investigating the allegation that the tourist was sexually assaulted by five men, according to local media.

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Australia not ruling out sanctions against Israel settlers as concerns grow over ‘troubling’ behaviour

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Exclusive: Senior Australian government source says ICJ ruling the continued Israeli occupation of territory seized in 1967 was illegal ‘can’t be ignored’

The Australian government is increasingly alarmed at Israel’s “troubling pattern” of behaviour and has not ruled out a more assertive response, including sanctions against settlers.

In the wake of a sweeping international court of justice ruling read out in a courtroom in The Hague late on Friday that said the continued Israeli occupation of territory seized in 1967 was illegal, a senior Australian government source said the advisory opinion “can’t be ignored”.

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US ‘committed’ to Aukus regardless of who is president, admiral says – as it happened

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‘Tumultuous’ coverage must not worsen post-3G, farmers say

Telcos face the ire of rural Australians if the 3G network shutdown goes awry and are being warned they will be held publicly accountable for any fallout, AAP reports.

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Victorian woman’s bail revoked after lying about Aboriginal heritage

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Haley Terei likely to be charged with perverting the course of justice, judge says

A woman who was bailed after falsely claiming to be Aboriginal is back behind bars and facing perjury charges.

Haley Terei, 32, was released from custody in May when facing burglary, theft and other charges, after telling the Victorian supreme court she was an Aboriginal woman from the Yorta Yorta nation.

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Energy drinks with nine times as much caffeine as a can of Coca-Cola removed from Australian shelves

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Nearly 700 beverages with almost double the allowed maximum caffeine content seized from South Australian retailers

Hundreds of highly caffeinated beverages have been removed from shelves in a crackdown on potentially harmful energy drinks.

Beverages with almost double the maximum allowed caffeine content are among almost 700 drinks seized during inspections of more than 100 retailers in South Australia.

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Hundreds of labradoodles in urgent need of homes after RSPCA Tasmania shuts down puppy breeder

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Tasmanian Labradoodles agrees to close to avoid charges laid for alleged overbreeding

More than 250 labradoodles – many who have never been in contact with a human – are in “urgent” need of a home after RSPCA Tasmania shut down the state’s biggest puppy breeder over animal welfare concerns.

Tasmanian Labradoodles surrendered all of its dogs last Friday in a “landmark out-of-court agreement” that led to the immediate and permanent closure of the business, the RSPCA said in a statement.

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Accused killer mother was due for parole meeting before Elizabeth Struhs’ death, court hears

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Kerrie Struhs was scheduled to meet a parole officer before her daughter died from diabetes medicine being allegedly withheld, a Queensland trial has been told

A mother accused of killing her daughter had a parole meeting scheduled a day before the eight-year-old girl died allegedly from her diabetes medication being withheld, a judge has heard.

Kerrie Elizabeth Struhs, 49, has refused to enter a plea in the Brisbane supreme court to the charge of manslaughter over the death of her child Elizabeth Rose Struhs at Toowoomba, west of Brisbane, on 6 or 7 January 2022.

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Murder accused faced ‘constant religious push’ to adopt belief that God could cure daughter’s diabetes, court told

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Elizabeth Struhs died after her parents and 12 other members of a Toowoomba sect allegedly withheld the eight-year-old’s insulin

A father accused of murder was viewed by his friend as a “broken man” torn between giving his daughter life-saving medication and his family’s beliefs against medicine, a judge has heard.

Elizabeth Struhs died at the family home in Toowoomba, west of Brisbane, on 7 January 2022 after her parents and 12 others allegedly withheld the eight-year-old’s insulin for six days as they gathered around her in prayer.

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Amber Haigh murder trial: CCTV with potential vital clues lost forever, court hears

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Robert Geeves, who is accused of teenage mother’s murder, waited 14 days to report her missing, court hears

Any CCTV footage that might have captured Amber Haigh’s last movements was lost because it was a fortnight before she was reported missing, and days later before any vision was requested by police, the NSW supreme court has heard.

Prosecutors also argued in court that the vanished teenager was not reported missing by the father of her baby – the man now accused of her murder – until others raised concerns she had not been seen.

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Tasmanian judge facing assault charge tells court his former partner ‘fell’

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Court hears Gregory Geason, who denies assaulting the woman, searched ‘how to get domestic violence charges dropped’ in days after argument

A Tasmanian supreme court judge denied punching his former partner and pushing her into a mantelpiece, telling a court she was unsteady, fell and hit her head on a table.

Justice Gregory Geason is facing a court hearing after pleading not guilty to assault and one count of emotional abuse or intimidation.

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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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Victorian teenager’s suicide after sextortion scam prompts call for improved education

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Coroner says those who find themselves in same situation as 17-year-old Rohan Cosgriff must know situation ‘will not define them’

A shift in the way young people are taught about online safety can help prevent deaths like that of a Victorian teen who fell victim to a sextortion scam, a coroner says.

Rohan Patrick Cosgriff was 17 when he was found dead at his home near Ballarat in July 2022.

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In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. Other international suicide helplines can be found at befrienders.org

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