Category Archives: Australia news

Queensland’s puberty blockers review panel criticised for lacking gender experts and trans lived experience

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Health department defends panel as chosen based on specialist expertise and says public can contribute via consultation process

Transgender advocates have criticised the panel assembled to conduct the Queensland government’s review of puberty blockers for lacking experts in gender affirming care and people with lived experience of trans healthcare.

The state government opened its independent review of stage 1 and stage 2 hormone therapies in Queensland’s public paediatric gender services to public submissions last week, but kept the panel conducting the review secret.

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Victorian Liberals question funding unfair dismissal claim defence while refusing to bail out John Pesutto

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Exclusive: Rift comes as Pesutto supporters remain optimistic a deal for the party to loan him money to help pay $2.3m in defamation costs will be struck

Several Victorian Liberals have accused the party of “hypocrisy” after it paid lawyers to represent its administrative wing in an unfair dismissal claim, while so far declining to save former party leader John Pesutto from bankruptcy.

On Monday, lawyers for Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming initiated bankruptcy proceedings against Pesutto after he failed to meet a deadline to pay her $2.3m in legal costs. Pesutto has less than 21 days to pay, enter into a payment agreement or face bankruptcy, which would lead to a byelection in his seat of Hawthorn.

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More Australians can’t afford specialist fees. Experts say it’s ‘not in the spirit of Medicare’

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Exclusive: Report finds rebates not keeping up with specialist fee rises and experts say soaring number of people putting off care is easy to understand

The cost of an initial dermatology appointment is now up to nearly $300 on average, new data shows. It reflects a broader problem: that Medicare rebates are not keeping up with the pace specialist fees are rising.

Online healthcare directory Cleanbill, which has tracked bulk billing rates among GPs, is expanding to provide data on out-of-pocket costs to see other health professionals, starting with dermatology.

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Chris Minns warns of $2bn budget hole if bill curtailing psychological injury claims fails

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Opposition opposes premier’s bill to raise impairment threshold to 30% as Labor forced to woo crossbenchers for support

The NSW premier, Chris Minns, has warned a failure to pass his controversial workers compensation legislation would blow a $2bn hole in the state budget as Labor seeks to woo a coalition of conservative crossbenchers to pass the bill.

In parliament, the premier said if the changes to curtail psychological injury claims did not go through, an additional $2bn would be required from NSW taxpayers to fund the public service portion of the scheme.

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‘Is that how you poisoned my parents?’: Erin Patterson tells mushroom trial husband confronted her over dehydrator

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Triple murder accused, who denies deliberately poisoning anyone, tells court she dumped dehydrator used to dry foraged mushrooms due to feeling ‘scared’ of child protection officers seeing it

Erin Patterson has told a court her estranged husband asked her if she had used a dehydrator to poison his parents, and admitted resetting her phone out of fear police would discover photos she had of foraged mushrooms.

In her third day in the witness box, Patterson also said she thinks there is a “possibility” that foraged mushrooms were unintentionally added to her beef wellington mixture as she tried to improve its “bland” flavour, and lied to her lunch guests about having cancer because she was embarrassed about planned weight-loss surgery.

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E-scooter injury toll revealed in study just ‘tip of the iceberg’ in Australia, doctors warn

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Data shows many children involved in e-scooter accidents speeding, not wearing helmets, and ‘doubling’ their friends

Every three days, a child injured on an e-scooter would come through the emergency department doors at the Sunshine Coast university hospital, according to Dr Matthew Clanfield.

Between 2023 and 2024, 176 children were treated at the Queensland hospital.

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Ticketek warns buyers against using multiple browsers amid complaints over Ashes ticket sales

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Frustrated fans vent at long waits and reported issues in presale queue as Cricket Australia announces record sales for men’s Test series

Ticketek has downplayed reports of widespread problems with its online sales platform from cricket fans trying to buy tickets to the Ashes, saying multiple browsers can trigger bot protection services designed to protect customers.

On Tuesday evening, Cricket Australia announced it had recorded its highest individual day of ticket sales ever. But the hours before saw a chorus of frustrated fans venting at the online queue for the tickets’ presale window, which opened in the afternoon.

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Instagram account dedicated to masturbation suspended after allegedly infringing University of Melbourne’s trademark

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One now-deleted post described the ‘best room to goon in on all of campus’ and received more than 12,000 likes

A social media account dedicated to “gooning” on campus has been suspended by Meta after allegedly infringing the trademark rights of the University of Melbourne (UoM).

The Instagram page, titled the “University of Melbourne Gooning Club” used the handle “unimelbgooning” and posted satirical memes related to the slang term, which colloquially refers to lengthy masturbation.

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Vanuatu criticises Australia for extending gas project while making Cop31 bid

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Climate minister says greenlighting North West Shelf project until 2070 is not the leadership Pacific countries expect as Australia seeks to host summit

Vanuatu’s climate minister has expressed disappointment over Australia’s decision to extend one of the world’s biggest liquefied natural gas projects and said it raises questions over its bid to co-host the Cop31 summit with Pacific nations.

The UN is expected to announce which country will host the major climate summit in the coming weeks, with Australia pushing for the event to be held in Adelaide as part of a “Pacific Cop”.

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Australia mushroom trial live: murder-accused Erin Patterson tells court she has never had a ‘healthy relationship’ with food

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Victorian woman, 50, has pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and one of attempted murder over a fatal 2023 beef wellington lunch. Follow live

Barrister Colin Mandy SC asks his client why at one stage there were three properties in both Erin and Simon Patterson’s name when the couple had been separated for four years.

I always thought we would bring the family back together. That is what I wanted ... It was something tangible to say to Simon, I see a future for us.

I have not.

I’ve never had a needle biopsy anywhere.

I consulted Dr Google.

I alternated that with Don.

We did talk about it sometimes.

The kind of conversations that we had ... they would gently make fun of the fact that I was religious and I would try and evangelise back to them in a sense ... It was sort of all in good humour.

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‘They didn’t deserve it’: emotional Erin Patterson tells murder trial of shame over messages about family

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Murder accused also tells jury she was never diagnosed with ovarian cancer and had history of ‘consulting Dr Google’

Erin Patterson has told a court she wishes she never told her Facebook friends in a private group chat “this family I swear to fucking god” in relation to her in-laws, saying she felt ashamed but hoped that sharing her frustrations would mean she had a “big cheer squad” for her problems.

Patterson also told the jury in her triple murder trial that she was never diagnosed with ovarian cancer and had a history of “consulting Dr Google”, and hoped to bring her family back together despite a formal separation with her estranged husband Simon seven years earlier.

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Victorian public servants hit back at Labor’s planned job cuts with push to curb ‘executive bloat’ instead

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Report argues large-scale public sector job losses can be avoided in part by ‘culling’ 450 executive-level roles

A group of public servants vying for union leadership roles are pushing back against the Victorian government’s mooted public sector job cuts with a cost-saving plan of their own, calling instead for reductions in “executive bloat”, halving consultant spending and reducing office space.

The group, known as the Voice for Members (AVFM), on Tuesday released an 89-page report, dubbed the Gold Review – a nod to the government’s review into the Victorian public service (VPS) led by Helen Silver – outlining $13bn in cost-saving and revenue-generating measures.

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It never rains or it pours: Australia suffers two weather extremes in May

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Parts of eastern NSW recorded wettest May on record as rainfall in Victoria and South Australia was 70% below average for the month

Australia saw a tale of two weather extremes last month, with extremely dry conditions continuing across southern parts of the country as parts of eastern New South Wales recorded the wettest May on record.

The low pressure trough that developed off the coast of NSW on 18 May and lingered for days, led to record high rainfall in numerous locations throughout the Hunter and mid-north coast.

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Erin Patterson details religious conversion and ‘never-ending battle’ with low self-esteem in emotional testimony to murder trial

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Triple murder accused gives evidence as first defence witness in death cap mushroom poisoning case that left three dead after beef wellington lunch

Erin Patterson has described her religious conversion and a “never-ending battle” with low self-esteem and weight issues in emotional evidence to her own triple murder trial.

Colin Mandy SC, Patterson’s defence lawyer, called her as the first defence witness on Monday afternoon.

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Natural disasters cost Australia’s economy $2.2bn in first half of 2025, new Treasury analysis shows

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Wild weather, including Cyclone Alfred and floods in NSW and Queensland, significantly slowed retail trade and household spending

Six months of natural disasters in 2025 have cost the economy $2.2bn, largely in slower retail and household spending, according to new federal Treasury analysis.

Wild weather has repeatedly battered the Australian east coast this year.

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‘We’ll determine our defence policy’: Albanese responds to US push for huge rise in spending as Hegseth stokes China fears

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Prime minister also reaffirms policy on Taiwan while hitting back at Donald Trump’s doubling of tariffs on steel and aluminium imports

Anthony Albanese has responded to the United States’ calls for a huge rise in defence spending amid fears about China, while hitting back at Donald Trump’s move to double tariffs on steel and aluminium.

On Saturday US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, urged US allies in the region, including Australia, to “share the burden” and lift defence spending to 5% of GDP, warning that “Beijing is credibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific”.

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This elusive possum was thought to be extinct outside Victoria. Now ecologists have made an ‘amazing’ discovery

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Leadbeater’s possum spotted in NSW at Kosciuszko national park, at least 250km away from the nearest sighting in Victoria

A critically endangered possum species thought to be isolated to Victoria has been found in a New South Wales alpine national park.

Previously thought to be extinct in the state, a leadbeater’s possum has been found in Kosciuszko national park, at least 250km away from the nearest sighting in Victoria.

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Cauchi’s mass murders put harsh spotlight on failings of mental health and police systems

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Funding shortfalls and inadequate services are letting down people in psychiatric crises, the Bondi Junction stabbings inquest hears

Joel Cauchi’s mother didn’t appear before the coronial inquest examining her son’s life and the day her son murdered six people at a popular Bondi Junction shopping centre. But her presence was often felt, taking shape in the form of notes she had written to his doctor or in a conversation with a police officer.

One of the most striking moments of the inquest was when Michele Cauchi, now in her mid-70s, was filmed via body-worn video camera on a police officer.

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‘Gut punch’: top shark expert quits Queensland advisory panel after LNP expands cull program

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Exclusive: Colin Simpfendorfer’s resignation from working group comes as conservationists lash expansion of lethal program they say ‘does nothing to improve beach safety’

One of Australia’s leading shark researchers has resigned from his position of almost eight years advising the Queensland shark control program, as members of that scientific working group say they were “shocked” and sidelined by the state government’s decision to expand the lethal control of sharks.

Announcing an $88m shark management plan overhaul which would see shark nets and baited drum lines designed to kill target shark species rolled out at more beaches, and existing drum lines used more intensely, the primary industries minister, Tony Perrett, claimed this week that the Liberal National party’s strategy was backed by research.

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