Category Archives: Australia news

Google blocked STI awareness ads as ‘adult content’, Senate estimates hears

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Search engine added ‘STI testing’ to list of sensitive topics, censoring important public health campaign, Greens leader says

Google has blocked ads for a commonwealth-funded STI awareness campaign as “adult content” in a move sexual health organisations say frustrates efforts to share evidence-based public health information online.

The Greens leader, Larissa Waters, told a Senate estimates hearing on Thursday that the tech company’s moderation practices had recently undermined the reach and cost-effectiveness of the national campaign, run by Sexual and Reproductive Health Australia (SRHA).

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Judges prohibit pro-Palestine march to Sydney Opera House and say protesters risk contempt of court

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In landmark ruling, NSW court of appeal says anyone attending prohibited protest could be held in contempt of court

New South Wales’ top court has made a landmark ruling that criminalises attending a “prohibited” protest, with the court of appeal banning a planned pro-Palestine march to the Sydney Opera House scheduled for this weekend.

The court of appeal on Thursday ruled that anyone marching on the Opera House on Sunday could be held in contempt of court, as it sided with police against the Palestine Action Group due to “extreme” safety concerns.

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‘From reef to retail’: experts warn global marine aquarium fish trade relies heavily on wild populations

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New research finds 90% of marine fish sold by major US retailers are wild-caught, including threatened or endangered species

The global trade in marine aquarium fish relies heavily on fish sourced directly from wild populations, with many consumers unaware of the practice due to murky supply chains.

New research has revealed the scale of the issue, finding most marine aquarium fish sold online in the US were wild-caught, mainly from the western Pacific and Indian oceans.

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Tour operator Intrepid drops carbon offsets and emissions targets

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Firm will instead invest A$2m a year in ‘climate impact fund’ supporting renewables and switching to EVs

One of the travel industry’s most environmentally focused tour operators, Intrepid, is scrapping carbon offsets and abandoning its emissions targets as unreachable.

The Australian-headquartered global travel company said it would instead invest A$2m (£980,000) a year in an audited “climate impact fund” supporting immediate practical measures such as switching to electric vehicles and investing in renewable energy.

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NSW official admits hiding in cupboard during multimillion-dollar kickback investigation

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Former transport bureaucrat Ibrahim Helmy appeared at an ICAC hearing after allegedly forming corrupt relationships with contractors and colleagues

Ibrahim Helmy was hiding in a cupboard for the moment he had been warned about.

Police had arrived at the share house where the former transport bureaucrat was laying low, living discreetly with strangers after failing to appear before a major corruption probe.

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Media and political attacks on Australia’s emissions targets ‘straight out of the climate obstruction playbook’, expert says

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Prof Christian Downie points to the Business Council of Australia and News Corp newspapers as examples of deliberate obstruction

Political and media attacks on renewable energy and climate action in Australia in recent months have come “out of the climate obstruction playbook” that has been honed over decades around the world by fossil fuel interests.

Prof Christian Downie, an Australian researcher, says he has studied techniques used by business groups and lobbyists all over the world which are now being seen in Australia.

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Women carry a higher genetic risk of depression, new study says

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Researchers in Australia find 16 genetic variants linked to depression in women but only eight in men

Women carry a higher genetic risk of depression, a new study has found.

Claiming to be the largest genetic study to date on sex differences in major depression, the research published Wednesday in Nature Communications has found 16 genetic variants linked to depression in women and eight in men.

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Fiery Senate exchange reveals investigation into coal firm allegedly clearing endangered greater glider habitat

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Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young called environment department bureaucrats ‘weak’ - though later withdrew the remark

Australian government officials are investigating whether a coal mining company is putting threatened greater gliders and koalas at risk by illegally clearing bushland in central Queensland without approval under federal law.

The revelation came in a fiery Senate estimates hearing in which the Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young criticised the Albanese government for not doing more to stop the clearing and described environment department bureaucrats as “weak” – an allegation she later withdrew.

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Australia Post releases footage of posties being hit by cars as it urges drivers to ‘keep an eye out’

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More than 280 delivery workers injured in traffic collisions over past year, suffering everything from broken limbs to lacerations

At least five posties are injured each week on Australia’s roads, according to data released by Australia Post as the service published video of collisions and urged motorists to “keep an eye out”.

More than 280 posties sustained broken limbs, concussions or serious trauma from third-party road crashes in the past financial year.

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VIP appearances, books and beer: what Valerie the dachshund is up to after her Kangaroo Island adventure

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‘Australia’s bravest sausage dog’, who was lost in the wild for more than 500 days, now has an ambassadorial role, merchandise and an Australian Story episode

World-famous dachshund Valerie, who was lost in the wild for more than 500 days, now has merchandise, an ambassadorial role, a public relations representative and a spot on Australian Story.

In November 2023 Valerie’s owners, Georgia Gardner and Josh Fishlock, were visiting Kangaroo Island in South Australia with Valerie in tow. But she escaped from her pen and bolted.

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Cause of Gold Coast mass fish kill unknown with marine heatwave most likely culprit, scientists say

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Local community group says whatever the cause ‘kids shouldn’t be in the water’ with dead fish

Queensland authorities are investigating the deaths of thousands of fish that washed up on a popular Gold Coast beach.

The state environment department said dead baitfish had been observed at The Spit, at the northern end of the Gold Coast since last Wednesday, but no obvious source of pollution had been found.

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Erin Patterson: prosecutors to appeal ‘manifestly inadequate’ sentence for triple murderer

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Victoria’s director of public prosecutions seeking longer prison sentence for mushroom murderer

The Victorian director of public prosecutions will appeal against the sentence handed down to triple murderer Erin Patterson, arguing it is manifestly inadequate.

On Monday afternoon – the deadline for an appeal – the DPP confirmed in a statement that the appeal had been lodged, after Patterson was sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 33 years.

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Australia news live: Moreton Island fire warning downgraded; Melbourne’s final Metro Tunnel station complete

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Crews worked through the night to contain a bushfire in the popular camping destination. Follow today’s news live

The alert for the Moreton Island fire has been downgraded to “advice” level this morning after fire crews worked over the weekend to contain the blaze.

The fire broke out on the island off Queensland’s south-east coast in dense national park near Eastern Beach at 10.30am on Saturday, forcing the evacuation of 20 campers to the western side of the island on the long weekend, AAP reports.

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Greens and Australian Christian Lobby form ‘unholy alliance’ to shut down late-night pokies in NSW

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Exclusive: The political foes have set aside decades of animosity to ‘work constructively on gambling reform’ after both describing the NSW government’s actions as insufficient

Limited action on gambling reform and record levels of harm have prompted “an unholy alliance” between the Greens and the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL), which has pledged to rally support for the progressive party’s legislation.

The offer of support came shortly after NSW Greens MLC Cate Faehrmann announced a bill to force the closure of all poker machine venues from 2am to 10am and remove exemptions for more than 650 pubs and clubs that can operate within this period.

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Over half of Australians support sanctions on Israel and its leaders for ongoing attacks on Gaza, poll shows

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Survey finds 57% of respondents agreed government should impose similar sanctions on Israel as those against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine

Australians are supportive of placing tough sanctions on Israel and its leaders for their role in attacking Gaza, with a new poll finding more than half of voters agree the federal government should extend sanctions placed on Russia to Israel.

The YouGov poll, commissioned by the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) and released Monday, shows the majority of Australians want Israel to end its assault on Gaza, with 69% agreeing – 53% “strongly” agreeing – the Netanyahu government’s military campaign should stop. Fourteen per cent disagreed.

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Liberal frontbencher backs Hastie on immigration – as it happened

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This blog is now closed.

James Paterson says Hastie move to backbench part of Liberals’ ‘debate and contest about ideas’

The sooner the Liberal party can sort out its differences the better but it may take a while after Andrew Hastie’s departure to the back bench, according to one of the rogue MP’s closest colleagues.

But we do have to make sure we go through our processes. We have to make sure we have those debates.

One of the reflections we’ve all had about the last parliamentary term is that there wasn’t enough debate and contest about ideas, that we need to robustly contest policy before we settle on it.

On the back bench, I’ll continue to advocate for things I believe in.

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Hot public holiday expected for Sydney and Brisbane after record rain for parts of NSW and Queensland in September

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Warm weather follows deluges in more than a dozen places in NSW and Queensland which topped daily records for the month

Sydney and Brisbane are in for a hot public holiday on Monday, with temperatures set to pass 30C in both capitals.

The warm weather comes after a soaking September on Australia’s east coast smashed monthly rain records across 21 places in Queensland and six in New South Wales following a record-breaking rain in August.

Sydney – sunny, minimum 20C, maximum 31C

Brisbane – sunny, minimum 15C, maximum 32C

Melbourne – shower or two, minimum 12C, maximum 16C

Adelaide – shower or two, minimum 11C, maximum 17C

Canberra – shower or two, minimum 11C, maximum 23C

Perth – sunny, minimum 8C, maximum 21C

Hobart – possible shower, minimum 7C, maximum 14C

Darwin – partly cloudy minimum 25C, maximum 35C

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‘Time is running out’: Sportsbet offered share of $1m in bonus bets if customers gambled on AFL grand final day

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Online bookmaker’s offer, one of a series texted during finals, was valid only if customer took up a suggested same-game multi bet

Australia’s largest online bookmaker texted customers offering a guaranteed share of $1m in bonus bets if they gambled on the morning of the AFL grand final.

The messages were among a series texted to a Victorian man’s phone by Sportsbet during the AFL finals series in an apparent attempt to entice him to gamble more.

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‘Baudin’s or bauxite?’ Stark warning black cockatoo won’t survive mining expansion

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BirdLife WA calls consequences of Alcoa’s proposals to clear 11,000ha of jarrah forest ‘irreversible and catastrophic’ for endangered bird

The destruction of Western Australia’s northern jarrah forests for bauxite mining will push a threatened black cockatoo “to and beyond the brink of extinction” if governments allowed it to continue, conservationists have warned.

Mark Henryon, a volunteer with Birdlife Western Australia, said there was a clear choice that would decide whether the endangered Baudin’s black cockatoo would survive. “Baudin’s or bauxite – we can’t have both,” he said.

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Bodies of two women who died in Victorian high country might have been there ‘two or three days’, police say

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Police are working to identify the women and ask anyone who had seen two women appearing ‘disoriented’ in the area earlier to contact Crime Stoppers

Emergency services have recovered the bodies of two women who died in “blizzard conditions” in the Victorian high country.

The bodies of the women were found by hikers near a remote hut at Nelse, about 400km north-east of Melbourne, on Friday afternoon. Their deaths are not considered to be suspicious, police said.

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