After a bumper wet season, huge flocks of budgerigars are on the move in the deserts of the Northern Territory
The humble budgerigar has transformed the red centre into a sea of green and gold.
A massive murmuration – the phenomenon of thousands of birds flocking together – has swarmed the Northern Territory.
Continue reading...About 50 workers at the Mt Arthur coalmine had been stood down without pay over the mandate
The Fair Work Commission has ruled a Covid-19 vaccine mandate for all workers at BHP’s Mt Arthur coalmine was unlawful because the company did not consult adequately with its workers.
Approximately 50 mine workers were stood down without pay last month after they were told they would be required to have had at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine to enter the work site after 9 November, and that they would need to be fully vaccinated by 31 January next year.
Continue reading...La Niña brings more than just rain to eastern states, as some unwanted visitors begin venturing into people’s homes
A surge in mosquitoes, spiders, termites, rodents – and mould – has hit eastern Australia, in what appears to be a fitting end to 2021.
The wet weather caused by the latest La Niña event has helped flush out creatures that may typically burrow or live underground into the open and inside people’s homes.
Continue reading...Fair Work Ombudsman accuses Coles of underpaying 7,800 staff; Victoria records 10 Covid deaths and 1,419 new cases, NSW 271 cases and zero deaths – follow all the day’s news
If you want to really wrap your noggin around those mitochondrial donation laws and why they’re so important, here’s Full Story for you. Laura Murphy-Oates speaks to reporter Rafqa Touma about her family’s experience:
Two incredible women who have had an enormous influence on 2021 – Grace Tame and Brittany Higgins – have joined Fran Kelly on ABC radio.
It remains to be seen if there’s any actual change. That’s my opinion.
We know there are structural needs that need to be addressed. None of this is new information.”
It wasn’t about me, it was about maintaining power … I don’t think fundamentally anything has changed internally within the building policy-wise that would stop this happening to another woman.
Continue reading...Proposed amendments to Sex Discrimination Act may not be enough to see legislation pass lower house this week
The Morrison government has struck a deal with some moderate Liberal MPs to support its contentious religious discrimination bill, agreeing to make immediate changes to protect gay students from discrimination in religious schools.
But the proposed amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act, which were negotiated between Queensland MP Angie Bell and the attorney general, Michaelia Cash, may not be enough to win over all moderate MPs and see the bill pass through the lower house this week.
Continue reading...The Omicron variant of Covid has prompted governments around the world to reintroduce border restrictions, with Australia shutting the border to southern Africa and delaying the reopening date for international students and visa holders. The federal government has called for calm, describing the variant as ‘manageable’, but what do we actually know about it?
Laura Murphy-Oates speaks to medical editor Melissa Davey about what scientists have discovered so far about Omicron and our evolving approach to combating Covid variants
Read more:
Continue reading...Labor targets Coalition over quarantine facilities during question time; Fifth case of Omicron Covid variant detected in Sydney; Jenkins report reveals one in three parliament staffers experience sexual harassment; Victoria records 917 cases and six deaths; NSW records 179 cases and three deaths – follow all the day’s news live
For those asking, there are five cases of the new Omicron confirmed in Australia – all are in quarantine.
There are four in Sydney (after two more were confirmed late yesterday) and one in the Northern Territory.
The corporate regulator has taken the unprecedented step of launching multiple legal actions at once against one of Australia’s big four banks.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has hit Westpac with six civil penalty proceedings in the federal court, which could draw a combined penalty of more than $100m.
Continue reading...The star has left behind a profound body of work – and a permanent, inimitable impression on his industry
In the 1976 classic Storm Boy, the great Yolŋu actor David Dalaithngu delivers a line that became immortalised in Australian cinema. “Bird like him, never die,” he says, describing the pelican Mr Percival.
The substance of that line can apply to the man himself, who will live on through the light and shadow of the cinema, on to which he left a permanent and inimitable impression.
Continue reading...Labor dubs schedule – which suggests a May election – ‘more of a slouch than a sitting calendar’ as government runs out of time to establish federal integrity commission
Labor has criticised the Coalition for proposing a parliamentary sitting calendar for next year that includes just 10 sitting days before August if an election is called immediately after the budget.
The release of the sparse sitting calendar comes as the government runs out of time to fulfil an election promise to establish a federal integrity commission, amid ongoing divisions within the party about the best model for a new anti-corruption body.
Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning
Continue reading...Novak Djokovic is unlikely to play at the Australian Open if rules on Covid-19 vaccinations are not relaxed, the world No 1’s father, Srdjan Djokovic, said.
Organisers of the year’s first grand slam have said that all players will have to be vaccinated to take part.
Continue reading...National cabinet meeting brought forward to discuss Omicron response; Patricia Karvelas announced as Fran Kelly’s replacement for RN Breakfast; radical plan to rehome racehorses; last sitting week of 2021. Follow all the news live
Over on Sydney radio 2GB NSW police minister David Elliott said he met with with premier Dominic Perrottet and health minister Brad Hazzard on Sunday about what NSW would do:
I’m not panicking at the moment because it appears that this is going to be the new normal.
We need to prepare and ... make sure that we’re flexible and agile when it comes to variations and we need to be defensive and that defensive mechanism of course, is the vaccination.
So, we’re taking a risk-balanced approach at the moment and concentrating on those nine southern African countries.
We have increased our surveillance at the border, and after the border, we’re working very closely with our colleagues in New South Wales and Victoria, particularly, because they’re the ones that have had quarantine-free travel, as well as in the ACT, as to what is the best approach.
Continue reading...After overcoming personal tragedy, the rapper has clawed her way back – with a politically potent debut EP dedicated to First Nations women
Baarka didn’t come to mess around. Born Chloe Quayle, the 26-year-old rapper was a former teenage ice addict who did three stints in jail – during her last, five years ago, she gave birth to her third child.
Now the Malyangapa Barkindji woman has clawed her way back from what she describes as “the pits of hell” and is on the verge of releasing her debut EP, Blak Matriarchy, through Briggs’ Bad Apples Music. She has been celebrated by GQ as “the new matriarch of Australian rap”; and has her face plastered on billboards across New York, Los Angeles and London as part of YouTube’s Black Voices Music Class of 2022. (“I nearly fainted when I saw [pictures of it],” Barkaa says when we meet over Zoom. “The amount of pride that came from my family and my community ... It was a huge honour.”)
Continue reading...A Spanish trans woman’s memoirs, a Mumbai gangster drama, Israeli sisters in trouble… the Covid era is a rich moment for TV drama. Critics from Spain to South Korea tell us about the biggest shows in their countries
Continue reading...Laws would require companies to reveal users’ identities but experts say focus on defamation will not help curb rates of online bullying
The Australian government is set to introduce some of the toughest “anti-troll” legislation in the world, but experts say its focus on defamation will not help curb the rates of online bullying or cyberhate.
On Sunday prime minister, Scott Morrison, announced his government would introduce legislation to parliament this week that would make social media companies reveal the identities of anonymous trolling accounts and offer a pathway to sue those people for defamation.
Continue reading...Labor accuses Coalition of ‘stealth’ cuts to disability funding as other families complain about recent changes
A Perth mother fears she will have to quit her job to care for her autistic son after his national disability insurance scheme package was cut by about 70%, in the latest example of what the opposition is labelling “stealth” cuts to the program.
The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) insists there is no “directive to reduce funding to NDIS participant plans” and that its so-called Sustainability Action Taskforce – dubbed a razor gang by critics – is “no longer active”.
Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning
Continue reading...Masks mandatory in shops and on public transport; PCR tests reintroduced for travellers to UK
The UK should cut the gap between the second dose of a Covid-19 vaccination and the booster jab from six to five months, the Labour party said on Saturday, Reuters reports.
As the new Omicron variant sparked concern around the world, Alex Norris, Labour’s junior health spokesperson, said:
This new variant is a wake-up call.
The pandemic is not over. We need to urgently bolster our defences to keep the virus at bay.
If you look at where most of the mutations are, they are similar to regions of the spike protein that have been seen with other variants so far and that tells you that despite mutations existing in other variants, the vaccines have continued to prevent very severe disease as we’ve moved through Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta.
At least from a speculative point of view we have some optimism that the vaccine should still work against this variant for severe disease but really we need to wait several weeks to have that confirmed.
The processes of how one goes about developing a new vaccine are increasingly well oiled.
So if it’s needed that is something that could be moved very rapidly.
Continue reading...Australians attempting to return from nine African nations to be subject to hotel quarantine
New South Wales double-dose vaccination rates have hit 94.5% for people over 16.
For those 12-15, the rates are also increasing rapidly. 81.2% have had a single dose; 76.2% are fully vaccinated.
Continue reading...Scientists have carefully collected spawn bundles by moonlight in a bid to help save the reef
It’s nearing 10pm, and Dr Kate Quigley is still waiting. Using red lights to minimise disruption to the animals’ behaviour, she is inspecting corals.
Quigley, who studies reef restoration at the Australian Institute of Marine Science, is looking for “little red dots all over the surface”. A pimply appearance is a hallmark sign that a coral is about to spawn, releasing sperm and eggs in bundles resembling small bubbles.
Continue reading...Peter Dutton ‘a dangerous personality’, Paul Keating says; China responds after defence minister warns against ‘mistakes of the 1930s’; record Queensland native title claim granted; WHO calls meeting over new Covid variant; Victoria records 1,362 new cases, NSW 261; police update on William Tyrrell search; Australia on track for wettest spring in a decade. Follow latest updates
Between 1.5m and 2m Australians are only one life shock away from homelessness, new research from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute.
Large numbers of Australia’s renters could fall into homelessness if they go through a relationship breakup, get a serious illness or lose work.
Continue reading...Honiara has awoken to a calmer scene but tension lingers as quelling the violent protests has not resolved their underlying causes
Unresolved tensions and geopolitical pressures are a volatile mix in Solomon Islands.
What began as a peaceful protest calling for the resignation of prime minister Manasseh Sogavare on Wednesday quickly descended into unrest as the crowd of about 1,000 people, many of whom travelled from the neighbouring Malaita province, grew agitated and set fire to a leaf hut in the capital Honiara’s parliamentary complex.
Continue reading...