Category Archives: Australia news

Female sailor tells royal commission navy failed to protect her after alleged sexual assault by shipmate

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Young woman says she was stalked, abused, punished and denied help by her chain of command until she became suicidal

A female sailor who was 18 when she was sexually assaulted by a fellow shipmen says the navy failed to protect her, and her fellow sailors taunted her with threats her career was ruined “because I couldn’t shut my legs”.

The young sailor, who had joined the navy at 17, told the royal commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide on Friday that over the next five and a half years she would be stalked, abused, punished and denied help by her chain of command until she became suicidal.

Crisis support services can be reached 24 hours a day: Lifeline 13 11 14; Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467; Kids helpline 1800 55 1800; MensLine Australia 1300 78 99 78; Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636

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Australia news live updates: Gladys Berejiklian rules out federal tilt; second woman killed in Queensland floods

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Former NSW premier confirms she won’t run in federal election; second Queensland woman found dead in floodwaters. Follow all the day’s developments

By the way, we are expecting to hear from Scott Morrison pretty soon about the recently Atagi approvals for children’s vaccinations.

Berejiklian:

Well, I promised when the PM and others contacted me and urged me to give it consideration. I promised them and I did for a very short period of time and then obviously let them know that it’s not something I want to pursue and it is just a different direction.

I want my life to change.

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China says Australia, UK and US will ‘pay price’ for Winter Olympics action

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Beijing accuses nations of using Games ‘for political manipulation’ amid diplomatic boycotts

Australia, Britain and the US will pay a price for their “mistaken acts” after deciding not to send government delegations to February’s Winter Olympics in Beijing, China’s foreign ministry has said.

The US was the first to announce a boycott, saying on Monday its government officials would not attend the February Games because of China’s human rights “atrocities”, weeks after talks aimed at easing tension between the world’s two largest economies.

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Bondi backpackers hostel Noah’s locked down due to Covid scare as NSW reports 420 cases

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NSW police confirm health department requested assistance at Sydney venue

A Bondi Beach backpackers hostel in Sydney has been placed into lockdown for a second time due to fears of a Covid outbreak.

It is not yet known how many people were staying at Noah’s backpackers hostel or whether the Omicron strain of the virus was present.

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Omicron spreads to 57 countries but too early to tell if variant more infectious, WHO says

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World Health Organization says new Covid variant spreading rapidly in South Africa, with cases doubling in the past week

The Omicron variant of Covid-19 has now been reported in 57 countries and continues to spread rapidly in South Africa, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.

But the latest epidemiological report from WHO says given the Delta variant remains dominant, particularly in Europe and the US, it is still too early to draw any conclusions about the global impact of Omicron.

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Barnaby Joyce, Australia’s deputy PM, tests positive for Covid while visiting US

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Nationals leader is experiencing mild symptoms and will remain in isolation until further advice

Australia’s deputy prime minister, Barnaby Joyce, has tested positive to Covid-19 while on a visit to the United States.

The government says Joyce – who was in London earlier this week and met with the British justice secretary, Dominic Raab, and the Australian high commissioner to the UK, George Brandis – will isolate in the US until it is safe for him to return to Australia.

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Australia news live update: Barnaby Joyce tests positive for Covid; increase in NSW cases linked to more parties; Omicron could become dominant variant

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Deputy prime minister returns positive Covid test in the US; Queensland and Northern Territory pass 80% fully vaccinated mark; woman dies in floodwaters in Brisbane; a trivia night at a Sydney pub is the source of a new Covid cluster after 44 people were diagnosed with the virus. Follow live

A high profile doctor has announced she will be standing against treasurer Josh Frydenberg in the Melbourne seat of Kooyong, saying she “can’t stand” the government’s inaction on climate change.

Prof Monique Ryan, the director of neurology at the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne, launched her independent campaign on Thursday.

As a woman, a mother, and a doctor whose job it is to protect our children, I can’t stand it anymore. I can’t stand by, on the sidelines, while our local member votes with Barnaby Joyce against action on climate change.

Every day I go to work and make difficult decisions to help Australian children. Is it too much to ask our government to do the same?

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Tennis Australia denies seeking loopholes for unvaccinated players as Novak Djokovic included in draw

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Australian Open organisers say ‘all players, participants and staff’ must be vaccinated as Djokovic, who has not revealed his vaccination status, is included in tournament draw

Tennis Australia has hit back at suggestions it is seeking to exploit a “loophole” in border entry rules so unvaccinated players can compete in the upcoming Australian Open, as it included Novak Djokovic in the draw for the January grand slam.

Djokovic’s inclusion in the tournament draw, which was released on Wednesday afternoon, followed intense speculation about the world No 1’s ability to enter the country.

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Australia news live update: Victoria and Qld record first cases of Omicron Covid variant; TGA provisionally approves Moderna booster shot

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TGA provisionally approves Moderna booster shots for over-18s; two cases of Omicron variant detected in Queensland and one in Victoria; George Christensen should go ‘quietly’ into retirement, Scott Morrison says; China blames Australia for tense relationship after Winter Olympics boycott; Victoria records 1,312 new Covid cases and five deaths; NSW reports 403 cases, one death; eight cases and one death in ACT. Follow all the day’s news

Actor Rebel Wilson has said her own team were opposed to her losing weight because she was “earning millions of dollars being the funny fat girl”.

The Australian actor, 41, documented her physical transformation on social media after embarking on a health and fitness journey a couple of years ago.

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Queensland declares ‘world first’ Omicron Covid genetic variation but experts say it is not a new variant

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Sub-lineage described as Omicron ‘like’ was identified in an overseas arrival to the state from South Africa

Queensland has declared a “world-first” sub-lineage of Omicron but experts say it’s not a new variant or a new strain and more information is needed.

The new Omicron Covid sub-lineage, known as Omicron “like”, was identified in an overseas arrival to Queensland from South Africa.

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Australia’s fertility rate falls to record low in 2020

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Registered births fell by 3.7% in 2020, with the total fertility rate at an all-time low of 1.58 babies per woman

Australia’s fertility rate continues to plummet, with registered births dropping below 300,000 for the first time in 14 years.

Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday showed there were 294,369 registered births in 2020, a decrease of 3.7% from 2019. The previous year’s decline was 3%.

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China accuses Australia of ‘political posturing’ over diplomatic boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics

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Scott Morrison says athletes will compete in next year’s Games because sport and politics should not mix

The prime minister, Scott Morrison, has confirmed Australian officials will not attend the Beijing Winter Olympics, joining the United States in a diplomatic boycott of next year’s Games and prompting accusations from Beijing of political posturing.

Morrison told reporters in Sydney it was “not surprising”, given the deterioration in the diplomatic relationship between Australia and China, that officials would not attend next year’s winter Games.

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Bernard Collaery trial: Coalition tells high court release of judgment would risk national security

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Collaery won ACT court of appeal case lifting previous secrecy orders and declaring importance of open justice

The full publication of a key judgment in the trial of Bernard Collaery would prejudice Australia’s national security and must not be allowed, the federal government has told the high court.

Prior to October, significant parts of Collaery’s trial were to be shrouded in secrecy after some of Australia’s most senior intelligence and foreign affairs officials convinced a court of the risk an open hearing posed to national security.

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Australia live news update: NSW teachers’ strike closes nearly 400 public schools; Victoria pandemic bill becomes law

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David Littleproud says ‘conversations are happening’ about Olympics boycott; NSW teachers’ strike closes nearly 400 public schools; three new Omicron cases detected in ACT, six Covid-19 infections overall; Victoria pandemic bill becomes law; ; Victoria records 1,185 cases and seven deaths; NSW records 260 cases and two deaths – follow all the day’s news

A suspected shark attack on Victoria’s Bellarine Peninsula has left two teens in hospital and shut a beach, reports Callum Godde from AAP.

Emergency services were called to Ocean Grove, south east of Geelong, just after 7pm on Monday.

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Pacific nurses in the desert: Kiribati brain drain is outback Australia’s gain

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A Pacific labour scheme has been transformative for Kiribati families but the brain drain has hit the country’s hospitals hard

Every night, sitting in her room in the remote Queensland town of Doomadgee, Bwerere Sandy Tebau calls her husband and daughter 4,300km away in Tarawa, the capital of Kiribati.

“There is no sea!” Sandy says, when asked about the difference between her new home in the red desert of Australia and her island home in the central Pacific. “There is just a lake and in the lake are crocodiles!”

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Qld border to reopen 13 December, Palaszczuk says; SA premier advised to close border with NSW over Omicron – As it happened

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Annastacia Palaszczuk brings forward Qld border reopening; Steven Marshall ‘very concerned’ by Omicron as SA records four Covid cases; Perth stripped of Ashes series finale; Victoria records 1,073 new cases and six deaths, NSW records 208 cases, ACT six; Katherine lockdown extended as NT records one case; Australia could be renewables ‘superpower’ but has wasted time, Chris Bowen says.

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A New South Wales government plan to control feral horses in Kosciuszko national park will allow horses to remain in the only known habitat of one of Australia’s most imperilled freshwater fishes and risks pushing the species closer to extinction.

Conservationists say allowing horses to continue to roam around some sections of the park will put vulnerable wildlife and ecosystems at risk.

There are lot of reasons even though they don’t get as sick as adults, they have a pretty strong role in spreading it back to family members and of course that can include parents and also, of greater concern, the grandparents. The older you are, the impacts of getting seriously ill or worse with Covid is greater.

The other reason is just so kids can do what kids are meant to do – go to school, play with their friends, do sport, do exercise, do social things.

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Scott Morrison repeats that Australians have ‘had a gutful of governments in their lives’; Peter Cundall dies at 94 – As it happened

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Gardening legend Peter Cundall dies aged 94 as PM repeats that Australians have had a ‘gutful of governments in their lives’. This blog is now closed

Hunt is asked whether states, like Queensland, will hold off opening state borders until at least 80% of kids aged five to 11 are vaccinated given today’s announcement.

Hunt:

There is no reason for that. The Doherty modelling was set out very clearly on the 80% rates for double dosed across the country for 16 plus, and what we have seen now is that in terms of the 12 to 15-year-olds, we have now had an extra 1.8 million vaccinations over and above the Doherty modelling. The Doherty modelling was based on an 80% national rate for double dosed and didn’t include 12 to 15-year-olds.

A bit over a fifth of all cases of Covid are actually in the under 12s. Indeed, some of the early data with Omicron suggests it may actually be higher for the Omicron variant ... While most kids to get fairly mild infection and only a limited number end up in ICU, is great, there are bigger impacts.

Unfortunately about one in 3,000 of the kids who get Covid actually end up with this funny immunological condition called multi-system inflammatory condition. Those kids can end up being very sick for months. It is not the same as long Covid but it has some things in common, and it has a whole range of symptoms where the kid is just not well. That is one of the things we are protecting against by vaccinating children...

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Omicron cases climb amid Sydney cluster; Qld to quarantine Adelaide travellers – as it happened

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South Australia announces rule changes for interstate arrivals as ACT records first case of variant. This blog is now closed

Just noting we are still waiting on the SA press conference to begin.

There’s a press conference with the South Australian premier, Steven Marshall, and CHO Nicola Spurrier at 9.45am SA time (so roughly half an hour from now).

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Dog noises, name calling, claims of abuse: a week of shame in Australian politics

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Despite a review finding one in three parliamentary staffers have been sexually harassed, behaviour inside the building shows no sign of improvement

Allegations of abuse and accusations of widespread sexism. Bullying and harassment particularly of women. A cabinet minister stood aside pending an investigation into claims by a former staffer that their relationship was at times “abusive”. Even by the low standards of the Australian parliament, it was a week of horror in Canberra.

The final sitting week of parliament for the year began with a long-awaited report on sexual harassment and cultural issues within the parliament, which found one in three parliamentary staffers “have experienced some form of sexual harassment while working there”.

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From Marilyn to Shakespeare: how well do you know history’s most bungled quotes?

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The internet is full of wonky attributions and made-up catchphrases, from real life and pop culture. Can you tell your Attenborough from your Armstrong?

Those of you who had “Sir David Attenborough has beef with Adelaide shopping mall plaque” on your 2021 bingo cards must have done a victory dance this week. A local conservationist recognised some “honeybee propaganda”, attributed to the legendary naturalist, on a plaque accompanying a Westfield Tea Tree Plaza mural and alerted the relevant authorities (i.e. Sir David himself).

The plaque has been done away with, but plenty more misquotes and misattributions remain. If you’ve ever seen a brush-script quote adorning a black and white photo, a painted sunset, or an embroidered couch cushion and wondered “Hang on a minute …”, this quiz is for you. Last one to finish gets their name attached to a Spider-Man quote on an inspirational $2 shop fridge magnet.

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