Morrison said the Russian government is acting like ‘thugs’ and ‘bullies’ as the likelihood of war with Ukraine escalates. 'Australia will always stands up to bullies’, Morrison said while announcing a suite of sanctions against Russian interests
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Scott Morrison announces targeted sanctions and travel bans for Russian individuals after Cabinet committee discusses Australia’s response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine; Victoria records 17 Covid deaths, NSW records six. Follow all the day’s news live
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners has called for a health-first approach to alcohol and other drug use.
This comes after reports of the Reason party’s Fiona Patten introducing a private member’s bill to institute a decriminalisation model in Victoria.
Instead of a punitive approach via the criminal justice system, Victorian police would instead issue a mandatory notice and referral to drug education or treatment to people possessing a drug of dependence or who are believed to have used a drug of dependence. Compliance with this process would result in no finding of guilt or criminal record.
It is similar to the Portuguese model introduced in 2001. Of the more than 32,000 drug arrests in Victoria in the year leading up to September 2021, 80% were for drug use or possession only rather than trafficking large drug quantities.
RACGP president Dr Karen Price said saving lives and reducing harm must always come first:
Alcohol and other drug use is, primarily, a health issue that should be managed by health professionals, including GPs.
Almost everyone knows someone who has been negatively affected by alcohol or other drug use in some form, it cuts across all demographics and all segments of society. So, if you declare a “war on drugs” you are declaring war on someone’s partner, family member, colleague, or friend – it just makes no sense.
Continue reading...Match each diplomatic, inflammatory or amusing quote to the politician from which it emerged
In an increasingly heated political debate in the lead-up to Australia’s election, claims of appeasing China and even labels of “Manchurian candidates” have flown thick and fast.
The truth is both major parties have been recalibrating their China policy over the past decade in response to what they see as a more assertive nation under Xi Jinping.
Continue reading...Pollution generated by burning fossil fuels causes snow to darken, absorb more solar energy and melt faster
Black carbon pollution from tourism and research activities in Antarctica is likely increasing snowmelt on the continent by an estimated 83 tonnes for each visitor, according to new research.
Scientists have estimated that the black carbon produced by vessels, planes and diesel generators results in 23mm of additional snowmelt each summer in the most frequently visited areas of the ice-covered landmass.
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Continue reading...Remote Sgt Adam Eberl tells court he did not consider Walker to be dangerous when police first encountered him
A police officer involved in the attempt to arrest Kumanjayi Walker before his death has told a court he was “surprised” other officers had not used their guns when the Warlpiri man threatened them with an axe during a seperate incident days earlier.
Remote Sgt Adam Eberl was the other officer in the room when Constable Zachary Rolfe shot dead Walker on 9 November 2019 in the remote community of Yuendumu, about 300km from Alice Springs.
Continue reading...Clive Palmer cancels press club appearance; foreign minister condemns Russia’s declaration of Ukranian separatist independence as PM says Russia should ‘step back’; defence responds to China’s claim about laser incident; NSW and Victoria both record 14 Covid deaths, Queensland records five; mask rules lifted in Victoria from midnight Saturday and in Queensland next week. Follow the latest updates live
Jumping back to the Sydney train situation for a moment and the Rail, Tram and Bus Union state secretary, Alex Claassens, is discussing the return of limited train services with ABC News Breakfast:
Apparently, where we ended up late last night was we negotiated an outcome where trains will run today. We finally managed to get the management team to see some common sense and today they will be operating a service roughly around the half-hour to 15-minute mark.
They will then try and improve on that during the day. We will work together as much as we can to try to get as many trains on the tracks as we can, and you can imagine our disappointment yesterday morning when we got up like everybody else in Sydney to realise some genius had made a decision to cancel all of our train services.
Continue reading...The majority of Australians support a position which is the polar opposite to the government’s current tub-thumping on national security
Scott Morrison’s efforts to politicise Australia’s complex relationship with China seems to be further soiling his own flagging reputation.
Like a bull in the proverbial, he has spent the past fortnight bombarding the airwaves with hastily googled dossiers and cold war-era panics to suggest an Albanese government would become an antipodean branch office of the Beijing Politburo.
Continue reading...Perrottet urged to work with union over NSW train dispute; Peter Dutton says all signs on Ukraine ‘pointing in one direction’; at least 17 Covid-related deaths; Australia’s international border reopen for the first time in nearly two years. Follow the latest updates live
AGL Energy has rejected a takeover bid by tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes and Canadian asset management giant Brookfield, saying the preliminary offer “materially undervalues the company”.
Brookfield and Cannon-Brookes’ Grok Ventures made the extraordinary offer to take over Australia’s most polluting company on Saturday, with a goal to shut its coal power plants earlier than planned.
Natasha Beth Darcy, 46, will be jailed until at least 2047 for sedating and gassing Mathew Dunbar in 2017
A New South Wales woman who faked her grazier partner’s suicide, sedating and gassing him to inherit his property, will be jailed until at least 2047.
Natasha Beth Darcy, 46, was on Monday sentenced to a maximum of 40 years in prison for the crime which Justice Julia Lonergan called “stupid, clumsy and ugly”.
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Continue reading...Emotional scenes at Sydney airport as families, friends and lovers reunite after 704 days of Covid restrictions
There were tears, DJs, Vegemite and drag queens as families, friends and lovers reunited at Sydney airport after the resumption of all international travel to Australia.
While a number of expert bodies including the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the European Council have warned against travel to Australia due to soaring Covid-19 case numbers over summer, the federal government has vowed to keep the borders open.
Continue reading...Francesca Tardioli, 56, was found dead outside her house in Foligno, Umbria
The Italian ambassador to Australia has died after falling from a balcony in her home town in Foligno in the Umbria region.
According to reports, Ambassador Francesca Tardioli, 56, was found dead outside her house after apparently falling from the third floor. The incident is being investigated by the police in Italy.
Continue reading...Some are shunning their third vaccine dose, prompting fears of ‘a double whammy – Covid and flu’ this winter
The messaging around the severity of the Omicron Covid variant and a degree of pandemic fatigue is slowing Australia’s booster rollout, as some Australians shun the third dose.
Clinton, who asked for his last name not to be used, is pro-vaccine – he got his first two doses as soon as he could, choosing AstraZeneca because it was slightly more effective.
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Continue reading...NSW government expected to announce parents will instead be given at-home tests to use when needed. Follow live
NSW Health appears to have made an error in its first Covid update this morning, and has issued a subsequent tweet with different numbers.
There are 358 people in hospital with Covid-19, 51 of whom are in the ICU. Twelve people require a ventilator.
Continue reading...Prime minister characterises incident as ‘a reckless and irresponsible act that should not have occurred’
Australia’s prime minister, Scott Morrison, has declared a laser incident involving a Royal Australian Air Force aircraft last week is an “act of intimidation” by China.
Australia’s defence department reported a laser emanating from a People’s Liberation Army Navy vessel illuminated a P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft last Thursday when the Chinese ship was sailing east through the Arafura sea.
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Continue reading...Police allege the 36-year-old used a circular saw to cut off a 66-year-old man’s leg at an Innisfail park
A man has been charged with murder after another man died when his leg was allegedly cut off by a circular saw in a far north Queensland park.
Police allege the men – aged 36 and 66 – drove together to Innisfail’s Fitzgerald park before 4am on Saturday and sat under a tree.
Continue reading...While many assume they will be immune after catching Covid, experts say the emergence of Omicron has seen a significant increase in reinfection
When Peter Coleman took a rapid antigen test just weeks after recovering from Covid-19, it was partially “for the fun of it”.
Peter and his husband first tested positive to the virus on 10 January, during the post-holiday period that saw a spike in cases hit Melbourne and much of Australia.
Continue reading...Department condemns ‘unsafe military conduct’ after laser detected coming from People’s Liberation Army Navy vessel
The lives of Australian Defence Force personnel could have been endangered after an aircraft detected a laser emanating from a Chinese ship, the Australian defence department says.
On Thursday 17 February, the P-8A Poseidon detected a laser illuminating the aircraft while in flight over Australia’s northern approaches, defence says.
Continue reading...Western Australia premier says he will spend week in hotel quarantine to avoid perceptions he will benefit from timing of border reopening; SA election campaign officially begins
In Victoria over the past week, this is how Covid hospitalisation and ICU numbers have tracked, starting with today’s figures and working backwards: 365 (55 in ICU); 451 (64), 401 (78), 397 (68), 441 (67), 465 (66), 465 (62).
So in NSW over the past seven days, this is how hospitalisation and ICU numbers have tracked, starting with today’s figures and working backwards: 1297 (81 in ICU); 1381 (92); 1447 (92); 1478 (92); 1583 (96); 1649 (100) and 1614 (93).
Continue reading...Premier Mark McGowan announces border reopening date; Bob Katter raises concerns over gun trafficking bill; at least 39 Covid deaths recorded; PM says federal government had no power ‘to prevent’ Port of Darwin sale; ACT to ease restrictions from tonight. Follow all the day’s news
Deputy opposition leader Richard Marles was on Today earlier alongside Peter Dutton, discussing Ukraine and the week in parliament.
Karl Stefanovic:
Richard ... it’s been a big week. The PM labelled you in parliament the Manchurian candidate, you little Chinese spy, you, hey?
(Laughs) Well, obviously not. But I think tossing around patriotism in that way and using it as a political football, I mean ... I’m not particularly hurt by it but it does pay quite a disrespect, I think, to those men and women who we ask to put on a uniform each and every day and to literally put their lives on the line for that very concept.
These are really encouraging numbers and yes, of course, hours worked were down to the Omicron shock and the fact that more people have been getting more jobs. We can expect things to ramp up very quickly as we get the lifting of restrictions, the opening of international borders and get back to normal.
We’ve already got the borders open to those skilled moderate workers and backpackers ... this is all about making sure we get more jobs back, maintain the growth and get that 4.8% figure potentially even down to a number starting with three.
Continue reading...Lurita artist paid $13.75m for copyright of design while two non-Indigenous companies received $6.3m
The federal government has revealed it paid $13.75m to the creator of the Aboriginal flag, Luritja artist Harold Thomas, to assume copyright, and $6.3m to two non-Indigenous businesses who held licences to the design, amid a clash in Senate estimates over whether the flag had been “colonised”.
WAM Clothing received $5.2m and Wooster Holdings, $1.1m, a Senate estimates committee has been told.
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