Parents in Canberra were unaware daughter had allegedly paid substantial sum to purported hitman
A tip-off from a British journalist working for the BBC led to the arrest of an Australian woman who allegedly used the dark web to hire a contract killer to murder her parents, police say.
The 26-year-old Canberra woman is accused of agreeing to pay $20,000 to kill her parents, who are reportedly prominent businesspeople in the Australian Capital Territory.
Continue reading...Government extends country’s biosecurity emergency declaration; Josh Frydenberg unveils laws requiring Google and Facebook to pay for news. All the latest updates
In the UK, Margaret Keenan, a 90-year old grandmother from Coventry, has become the first person to receive the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine.
Australia has currently secured enough doses of the vaccine for 5 million people.
Congratulations to Margaret Keenan on her pub quiz question immortality.
Related: Coventry woman, 90, first patient to receive Covid vaccine in NHS campaign
Independent senator Rex Patrick has tabled a bill today to ban the importing of goods made by the forced labour of Uighurs in China.
The bill would stop Australia importing any goods made in the Xinjing province of China, or goods from other parts of China produced “using forced labour” as defined by Australian criminal law.
The Chinese Communist regime’s persecution of the Uyghur people is undeniable. More than 1 million people have been rounded up and put in internment camps across Xinjiang and subjected to gross human rights abuses.
Continue reading...Sydney and Melbourne nightclubs are finally open (with a few Covidsafe caveats) – and for LGBTQI people, an essential space has returned
The perfect lockdown anthem came pretty early in 2020: Charli XCX’s frantic, party-thirsty Anthems, from her album released in mid-May. She starts by declaring “I’m so bored” before recounting days in lockdown and everything she desperately craves about partying: anthems, late nights, her friends, “the heat from all the bodies”. Charli also misses New York – although the city that never sleeps is still very deep in its Covid-induced nap.
It’s a different story in Australia where, after seven months, Sydney and Melbourne finally got the green light to return to nightclubs on Monday. There was one sticking point: no more than 50 people on the dancefloor at once, with enough space for one person per four square metres.
Continue reading...Scott Morrison has written to the clerk of the lower house correcting the record and apologising to the former Labor leader
Scott Morrison has written to the clerk of the House of Representatives correcting the record and apologising to Kevin Rudd after declaring erroneously in question time that the former Labor prime minister had been allowed to leave and re-enter Australia during the pandemic.
The controversy began when Labor on Monday asked Morrison why Tony Abbott and Alexander Downer had been able to leave and re-enter the country multiple times this year “when there are thousands of vulnerable stranded Australians who haven’t been able to get home once?”
Continue reading...Man, 29, says shark bite at Kangaroo Island’s D’Estrees Bay was ‘like being hit by a truck’
Paramedics have hailed the “remarkable” survival story of a South Australian surfer who swam back to shore alone and walked 300 metres for help after suffering “extraordinary” injuries from a shark bite at a remote beach.
Paramedic Michael Rushby said the man had “serious” lacerations on his back, backside and leg “consistent with quite a large shark bite”, but managed to haul himself to safety.
Continue reading...NSW to lift tranche of restrictions while in Victoria it will no longer be compulsory to wear face masks in offices or cafes; federal parliament returns for the final sitting week of 2020 – latest updates
Victoria will begin accepting international flights again from today – a flight from Sri Lanka is about to touch down in Melbourne. All up, there will be about 125 travellers arriving as part of the hotel quarantine program in Victoria today.
There is no longer any private security guards as part of the Victoria program – and any worker has to work exclusively for the Victorian government.
The latest foreign interference laws are also due to pass parliament this week – these ones are the ones looking at agreements with foreign governments that private organisations and state governments have made.
States, Territories and local governments will have three months to handover agreements with foreign governments which @dfat "will carefully and methodically consider against Australia's foreign policy settings" #auspol @Birmo @SBSNews pic.twitter.com/pwT5PtCEta
Continue reading...Italy has sixth highest death toll across the world; Russia reports 29,039 new cases, taking cumulative total to 2,460,770
Sick people in northern France occasionally leave garments in healing trees or “arbres à loques” in the hope of a cure, following a tradition that persists since pre-Roman times.
But recently, this tradition has been updated for the coronavirus age.
Donald Trump says his lawyer Rudy Giuliani has tested positive for coronavirus.
.@RudyGiuliani, by far the greatest mayor in the history of NYC, and who has been working tirelessly exposing the most corrupt election (by far!) in the history of the USA, has tested positive for the China Virus. Get better soon Rudy, we will carry on!!!
Continue reading...Fires sparked by illegal campfire on 14 October have destroyed 82,500 hectares of national park on world heritage listed island
A bushfire burning on Fraser Island could impact Happy Valley village and residents have been told to prepare to leave.
An update from Queensland Fire and Emergency Services said the fire was burning 3.5km north-west of Happy Valley on Sunday and conditions could get worse.
Continue reading...In the three years since same-sex marriage was legalised, more than 14,000 couples have taken the plunge. But for some, the struggle for full recognition continues
When Cynthia Nelson first heard about same-sex marriage in San Francisco in the 1980s, she wasn’t sure it was achievable in Australia.
“I didn’t believe it would become legal in my lifetime. In fact, I thought it was an unworthy goal for the LGBT movement – not only unattainable but too conservative, too mainstream,” the Sydney-based author and academic says.
Continue reading...Men in their mid-30s drown and boy, 9, in hospital, after incident on Australia’s Sunshine Coast
Two men have drowned and a boy has been taken to hospital after getting into trouble in the surf on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.
The men in their mid-30s were pulled from the water at Teewah Beach in Noosa North Shore about 2.30pm on Saturday but could not be revived.
Continue reading...Capsule will burn through atmosphere before landing in South Australia in the early hours of Sunday morning
Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft has successfully separated a capsule and sent it toward Earth to deliver samples from a distant asteroid that could provide clues to the origin of the solar system and life on our planet.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said the capsule successfully detached Saturday afternoon from 220,000km (136,700 miles) away in a challenging operation that required precision control. The capsule is now descending to land in a remote, sparsely populated area of Woomera, Australia, on Sunday.
Continue reading...Australian experts and Israeli cybersecurity firm allege ‘unusual behaviour’ by Twitter accounts retweeting or liking Zhao Lijian’s tweet
A Chinese official’s tweet of an image of an Australian soldier that sparked a furious reaction from Canberra was amplified across social media by unusual accounts, of which half were likely fake, Australian experts and an Israeli cybersecurity firm say.
The digitally created image that purported to show an Australian soldier holding a bloodied knife to the throat of an Afghan child was tweeted by China’s foreign ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian, on Monday.
Continue reading...Activist group Pride in Protest says presence of police makes Indigenous people feel unsafe
A controversial bid to remove police and prison officer floats from the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras has failed at the event’s annual general meeting.
But, in a strong anti-police statement, Saturday’s motion attracted 44% of the votes, drawing 261 votes in favour. Three hundred and twenty-seven members voted against it.
Continue reading...Home affairs will be ‘tough-minded’ if fraud is proven, Michael Pezzullo tells Senate estimates
Three Australians who received visas with the help of the disgraced former New South Wales Liberal MP Daryl Maguire could be stripped of their citizenship if it was obtained through fraud, the home affairs department chief has warned.
Michael Pezzullo made the threat in Senate estimates on Friday when he promised his department would be “tough-minded” if fraud was proven after a departmental and Australian Border Force investigation into the cash-for-visa scheme.
Continue reading...MP Andrew Hastie has criticised the release of details included in the war crimes report for allowing China to ‘malign our troops’; PM faces questions over Murdoch Christmas party flight; NSW awaits update on new Covid cluster. Follow all today’s news
Good morning, Matilda Boseley here. It’s nearly the end of the week and what better way to reach the finish line than to stick around on the Guardian live blog and get all your much-needed news updates, Covid-19 or otherwise.
First up, Liberal MP Andrew Hastie has criticised the Brereton Report which he says was filled with “unproven rumours” of Australian soldiers murdering Afghan children, saying the report has given China an opening to malign Australian troops.
Continue reading...Activists have joined Aboriginal traditional owners in voicing opposition to the controversial development that received federal approval last month
Hundreds of people in Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane have rallied in support of Aboriginal traditional owners to voice their strong opposition to Santos’ $3.6bn gas project in western New South Wales, which they say will devastate Gamilaraay Gomeroi cultural ties to sacred and significant heritage sites.
Last month, federal environment minister Sussan Ley approved the controversial development that could see up to 850 gas wells being drilled in grazing land and the Pilliga forest, which holds great significance for Gamilaraay Gomeroi people.
Continue reading...Investigation follows revelation of pictures which show soldiers drinking from leg and carrying it on the battlefield
Australia’s defence department says an investigation has been launched into photos showing senior special forces soldiers drinking out of a dead Taliban fighter’s prosthetic limb and carrying it on the battlefield.
The move comes after the Guardian obtained images showing a trooper carrying the leg attached to a backpack with other photos showing soldiers drinking beer from the prosthetic at an unofficial bar – the Fat Lady’s Arms – that was set up at their special forces base in Afghanistan in 2009.
A defence spokesperson said on Thursday: “Army is inquiring into the matter.”
When the McCormicks came home on Wednesday, the Christmas tree in their Adelaide house had acquired a new ornament
The McCormicks went for a silver, pink and blue theme on their Christmas tree. The old plastic leaves were worn but looked beautiful with baubles on each branch and twinkling lights.
But this year the family tree included one very unexpected ornament: a wild – and somewhat confused – juvenile koala.
Continue reading...Australia has targeted March 2021 to begin the rollout of a Covid vaccine after the UK became the first western country to license a vaccine against the coronavirus.
While British prime minister Boris Johnson says vaccinations will begin there next week, Australian prime minister Scott Morrison and health minister Greg Hunt say that won't impact Australia's timeline.
'In Australia, we're in a very strong position,' Morrison says.
'That enables us to get this right, to get the balance right, to ensure first and foremost the safety, which enables us to roll out the vaccine across the country successfully.'
Hunt has reaffirmed the country is on track to vaccinate healthcare workers and aged-care residents in March
Continue reading...In part three of the Temporary podcast we meet Elaheh, who had to suddenly flee Iran, not realising she might never see her family again. Now a recognised refugee in Australia with a young son, her visa’s restrictions dictate whether her son will ever meet the strong women who raised her
Temporary is a project from the University of New South Wales Centre for Ideas and Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law in partnership with Guardian Australia, inspired by the book Refugee Rights and Policy Wrongs by Jane McAdam and Fiona Chong. Series artwork by Matt Huynh.
You can find additional information, photography and artwork at the Kaldor Centre’s Temporary website.
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