Category Archives: Australia news

Solomon Islands prime minister says foreign criticism of China security deal ‘very insulting’

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Manasseh Sogavare says it is ‘utter nonsense’ that China’s presence is a threat to regional stability

Solomon Islands prime minister Manasseh Sogavare has dismissed foreign criticism of the country’s security negotiations with China as “insulting” and called those who leaked the draft agreement “lunatics”, in his first comments to parliament on the proposed treaty.

“We find it very insulting, Mr Speaker, to be branded as unfit to manage our sovereign affairs,” Sogavare said on Tuesday.

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Victoria daily news update: hospitality training to fill shortages, Matthew Guy isolates and Covid cases rise

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Both Daniel Andrews and the opposition leader are now in isolation as Covid cases rise across the state

A quick summary of all the Victorian news you need to know on Tuesday 29 March.

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Speculation ‘part of the job’ for Socceroos coach Graham Arnold

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  • Scrutiny on coach intensifies ahead of Saudi Arabia clash
  • Australia face tough route to qualify for Qatar World Cup

Under-fire Socceroos coach Graham Arnold insists he’s “fine” heading into a World Cup qualifier against Saudi Arabia which may be his last match in the position.

Speculation is rife Football Australia is considering firing Arnold after Tuesday’s (Wednesday AEDT) game in Jeddah with hopes of automatic qualification for this year’s World Cup in Qatar dashed after a 2-0 home loss to Japan last week.

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Australia hit by Covid and injuries before first ODI in Pakistan

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  • Cameron Green steps in after Mitch Marsh ruled out
  • Josh Inglis in isolation after testing positive for Covid-19

Australia’s depleted stocks have taken a further hit ahead of the ODI series against Pakistan after T20 World Cup hero Mitch Marsh was struck down by a hip injury.

Marsh suffered the setback while fielding during a training drill. Scans confirmed the injury was a low-grade hip flexor strain but the tourists remain hopeful Marsh can play some part in the series.

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Australia fast-tracked visas for Afghan army officers after warning of negative publicity, documents show

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Briefing to Peter Dutton five days after fall of Kabul reveals department’s concern over Afghan officers who had studied in Australia

The Morrison government fast-tracked visas for 11 Afghan army officers who studied at Australian defence colleges after officials warned Peter Dutton a failure to help them would generate negative news stories, documents reveal.

A briefing to the defence minister, obtained by Guardian Australia under freedom of information laws, said the group was “of high profile and at considerable risk” of Taliban retribution.

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Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial: former soldier objects to answering questions about SAS missions

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Soldier anonymised as Person 66 objects to questions in federal court over missions under Roberts-Smith’s command on the grounds of self-incrimination

A former Australian soldier has objected to answering questions about how many SAS missions he went on under the command of Ben Roberts-Smith in Afghanistan in 2012, his lawyer telling the federal court his expected evidence could incriminate him in an alleged murder.

The soldier, anonymised before the court as Person 66, briefly began giving evidence late on Monday, subpoenaed to give evidence by the newspapers defending a defamation action brought by his former comrade and Victoria Cross recipient Roberts-Smith.

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Morrison government predicts unemployment will drop to 50-year low as it spruiks pre-election budget

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Treasurer’s office says dip to last years, as Labor points to stagnant wages and vows to lift them

Josh Frydenberg’s pre-election budget will project Australia’s unemployment rate will drop to 3.75% this year, its lowest figure in 50 years, with the Coalition to talk up a “remarkable” post-pandemic recovery.

The treasurer’s fourth federal budget will also fund an extra 15,000 subsidised training courses for aged care workers, in a nearly $50m promise to boost the sector’s workforce.

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Labor finalises candidates in crucial seats ahead of election

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Jana Stewart to take Kimberly Kitching’s Senate spot amid factional in-fighting in Victoria over federal intervention

Federal Labor has finalised its candidates in a number of crucial seats ahead of this year’s election, including the controversial choice of Andrew Charlton to contest Parramatta and a consensus replacement for Kimberley Kitching in the Senate.

Nominations for vacant positions closed on Monday, with only one candidate to replace each of Kitching, retiring Victorian left senator Kim Carr, MP Julie Owens and right faction MP Andrew Byrne.

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Flood evacuation orders issued for Lismore after man and dogs die in Queensland

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Severe weather warnings issued for parts of eastern Australia still recovering from recent floods, with heavy rain forecast

Towns in northern New South Wales are bracing for another bout of possibly life-threatening flash floods, with the State Emergency Service ordering parts of flood-hit Lismore to move out of harm’s way.

The NSW SES on Monday issued an evacuation order about 7.30pm for North Lismore stating “residents must evacuate by 9pm”. Residents of South Lismore were ordered to leave by 10pm.

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Facebook a no-show in Andrew Forrest criminal case arguing West Australian court lacks jurisdiction

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Mining billionaire alleges social media giant failed to stop clickbait advertising scams using his image on its platform

Facebook believes an Australian court has no jurisdiction to hear a criminal case brought against it by mining magnate Andrew Forrest – who claims the tech giant failed to stop clickbait advertising scams using his image.

The case in the magistrates court of Western Australia is believed to represent the first time Facebook – owned by Meta Platforms – has faced criminal charges.

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Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial: ‘I believed something unlawful had happened’, Andrew Hastie says

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Assistant defence minister tells court he was troubled by ‘warrior culture’ in elite SAS regiment when he and Roberts-Smith were comrades in Afghanistan

Australia’s Special Air Service regiment was riven by a “culture war” with one faction obsessed by a “pagan warrior ethos” where “killing was a sacrament in itself”, the assistant defence minister, Andrew Hastie, has told Ben Roberts-Smith’s defamation trial.

Hastie, a former SAS officer who resigned from the military when he was preselected to run for parliament, has been subpoenaed to give evidence by three newspapers defending a defamation action brought by his former comrade and Victoria Cross recipient Roberts-Smith.

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Australia’s lost influence in Pacific on display in Solomon Islands-China deal, Anthony Albanese says

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Labor leader says inaction on climate change and cuts to foreign aid have broken trust, forcing Pacific nations to turn elsewhere

Australia has lost influence in the Pacific by failing to act on climate and cutting foreign aid, Anthony Albanese says, amid concerns about China’s proposed security deal with Solomon Islands.

Australia and New Zealand are worried the draft agreement could jeopardise regional stability, with China having the opportunity to base navy warships in the Pacific less than 2,000km off the Australian coast.

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Daniel Andrews catches Covid as nation records three deaths – as it happened

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Lismore and NSW SES issue evacuation orders; man dies in flood waters at Kingsthorpe; Victorian premier to isolate for seven days after positive Covid test; Star casino group chief steps down; nation records three Covid deaths, all in NSW. This blog is now closed

I love this series. It’s called Sorted and it’s a subjective, entirely arbitrary and fascinating ranking of things by Guardian Australia contributors. Check this out from Charmaine Manuel:

If you’re in Victoria, there are planned Extinction Rebellion blockades today. XR says “the times and locations are secret”, but this morning they are targeting the Exxon Mobil depot in Yarraville.

We are aiming to cause sustained disruption.

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Coalition unveils $17.9bn pre-election cash splash on road and rail projects

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Largest new spending is $3.1bn for Melbourne Intermodal Terminal with package also allocating $140m for a regional road safety program

The Morrison government will use Tuesday’s budget to unveil a multi-billion dollar national infrastructure spend that includes projects in key marginal seats, with $17.9bn in new money to be spent over the next decade.

The pre-election cash splash on road and rail also includes projects for regional Australia that had been secured in negotiations with the Nationals, including $140m for a regional road safety program and $678m for the Outback Way, announced by deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce last month in the key NT marginal seat of Lingiari.

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Property developers fight NSW bid to make houses more energy-efficient and climate-resilient

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Environmentalists call changes ‘everything you could ever dream about’ but industry says they ‘undermine the economics of delivering housing’

Property developers in New South Wales are fighting against the introduction of a wide-ranging planning policy aimed at ensuring houses are more energy-efficient and climate-resilient, which one environment group described as “everything you could ever dream about”.

Public comment closed last month on the draft Design and Place state environmental planning policy, hailed late last year by the then planning minister Rob Stokes as “NSW’s first comprehensive design policy”. It would offer “an important opportunity to reshape the look and feel of the places we live in”.

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Hillsong is facing catastrophe but the Houstons will be loath to give up control

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Analysis: the global church, founded almost 40 years ago in north-west Sydney, has little choice but to launch an independent inquiry

Judgment Day has come for Hillsong – but not in the way its pastors promised.

To recap a damning week for the church, its founder and global senior pastor, Brian Houston, has resigned after an internal investigation found he had breached the church’s code of conduct twice over the past decade by behaving inappropriately towards two women.

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Sydneysiders avoiding CBD after Covid ‘reset’ on working habits

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Average weekday trips into city on public transport still down 55% compared with pre-pandemic levels

Public transport use continues to lag across Sydney and trips to city offices and entertainment venues remain low, with average daily weekday trips still down 55% on pre-pandemic levels.

Trips rose just 1% between February and March, despite the indoor mask mandate – which had been attributed as a leading cause of the sluggish return to offices – dropping more than a month ago.

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Report into the gig economy finds women are earning 37% less than men

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Men earn $2.67 per hour more than women on average, but 40% of workers don’t know hourly rate

A new report commissioned by the Victorian government has found gender inequality is entrenched in the gig economy, with women earning up to 37% less than men.

The report, produced by a Queensland University of Technology research team and released on Monday, summarises Australian and global studies and found the gig economy can “both reproduce and exacerbate existing gender inequalities in work”.

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Australia live news update: man drowns at Sydney beach; Labor’s Katy Gallagher says ‘mean girls’ label ‘diminishes women’; 11 Covid deaths

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Man drowns on Sydney’s northern beaches; Labor senator Katy Gallagher says she had no ‘difficult arguments’ with Kimberley Kitching beyond what was normal in politics; Victoria records five Covid deaths and 7,466 new cases; NSW records one death and 17,450 new cases; Queensland records 7,738 new cases and one death; Western Australia records 7,197 new cases, four deaths. Follow developments live

The NSW Labor opposition has outlined a plan for the state to rebuild and recover from the devastating floods that have left about 1,500 people in emergency accommodation and damaged or destroyed about 95,000 homes, AAP reports.

The federal and New South Wales governments were too slow to act in the immediate response and have been too slow in their support, NSW Labor has said in a statement today.

The difference is, David, we’re looking for maximum community benefit and economic benefit while the government’s looking for maximum political benefit.

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Kim Carr bows out after three decades as Labor senator for Victoria

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Veteran cites death of Kimberley Kitching and ‘determined urgings’ from his children as reasons for his decision to step down

The veteran Labor senator Kim Carr has bowed out of the Senate contest in Victoria, marking an end to his almost 30-year career in parliament.

Carr had lost the support of powerbrokers to remain on the Senate ticket but had indicated he was prepared to fight to remain in the upper house, to which he was first elected in 1993.

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