Category Archives: Australia news

Two women face court charged with manslaughter after home-birth death of NSW baby

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Police allege 41-year-old woman was practising as an unregistered midwife while another woman, 51, held no medical qualifications and was also unregistered when baby died

Two women who police allege practised as unregistered midwives have been charged with manslaughter after a baby died after a home birth on the New South Wales mid north coast.

The women, aged 41 and 51, appeared in Coffs Harbour local court on Wednesday in relation to the newborn boy’s death in 2022.

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New Vanuatu PM says he will ‘revisit’ 2022 security agreement with Australia

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Exclusive: Jotham Napat said pact must be taken ‘back to the drawing board’ and should reflect climate change as security issue

Vanuatu’s new prime minister has said his government intends to “revisit” a security agreement with Australia, arguing it does not reflect his country’s priorities including climate change and travel mobility for its citizens.

Jotham Napat, who was elected in February, said the pact with Canberra had to be taken “back to the drawing board” as he sought a “win-win situation” in a renegotiated deal.

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Dead and dying Port Pirie birds and bats exposed to lead at 3,000 times acceptable levels

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South Australia’s EPA did not open a formal investigation into the source of the lead poisoning, despite referral from the Department of Primary Industries

South Australia’s Environment Protection Authority did not open a formal investigation into what may have killed dozens of birds in Port Pirie, despite tests showing some of the animals had been exposed to 3,000 times the acceptable level of lead.

In July 2024, residents of the industrial town raised the alarm when they found dead and dying native birds and flying foxes in local parks and green spaces.

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Mentally unwell woman in solitary confinement for almost a decade ‘an emergency situation’, Victorian judge warns

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Psychiatrist describes the detained woman at Thomas Embling hospital as one of the most unwell patients in the state

One of the most mentally unwell patients in Victoria will deteriorate further if she continues to be held in solitary confinement, where she has been detained for almost a decade, a court has heard.

Victorian county court judge Nola Karapanagiotidis heard a major review on Wednesday of the detention of the woman under the Crimes (Mental Impairment and Unfitness to be Tried) Act.

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Rate of Indigenous people in jail has risen by 20% since 2019, Closing the Gap data shows

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New data reveals child protection, incarceration and suicide rates getting worse

The rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people imprisoned increased by 12% in a year and was up 20% since 2019 – despite state and federal governments agreeing to reduce rates of incarnation by 15% by 2031 in June 2020.

Indigenous organisations have urged greater action from all governments to improve the lives of Indigenous people after new Closing the Gap data revealed child protection, Indigenous incarceration and suicide rates were getting worse.

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Expert concerned as large rafts of invasive fire ants seen floating in flood waters after Cyclone Alfred

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Kirsty McKenna filmed entire colonies clinging on to debris, ready to make nests on dry ground in Queensland and beyond

Fire ants are forming rafts to survive and travel on flood waters caused by ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred in south-east Queensland as experts warn extreme weather events could sweep the highly invasive species into other parts of Australia.

Footage captured in the Scenic Rim and northern Gold Coast in recent days shows red imported fire ants (Rifas) grouping together and floating on flood waters. Clumps of the ants can then be seen forming nests on previously uninfested land after waters receded.

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Sydney writers’ festival 2025: tallying authors’ views on Israel-Gaza ‘tokenistic and unfortunate’, organisers say

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After the shock resignation of the festival’s chair, the Sydney writers’ festival unveils its starry 2025 program in ‘an incredibly polarised environment’

Over the past two years, programming a writers’ festival has become one of the most politically fraught undertakings in the Australian cultural sphere. Both Sydney and Melbourne writers’ festivals have seen board members resign over programming decisions, while Adelaide and Perth have fended off calls for the de-platforming of speakers on both sides of the Israel-Gaza conflict.

Literary events are traditionally lauded for their “restraint, reason and tolerance in the face of opposing views” – but writers’ festivals are now issuing safety tips and employing security as they navigate “the frontier between social media’s echo chambers of outrage and the traditional public square’s conventions”, the University of Melbourne journalism academic Denis Muller observed in the Conversation last year, after the resignation of the Melbourne writers’ festival’s deputy chair, Leslie Reti.

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Australia news live: Dutton criticises PM’s ‘shocker’ after Trump tariff decision; suspicious packages wash up on Queensland beaches

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The prime minister has ruled out imposing reciprocal tariffs on the US. Follow today’s news live

Trump tariff decision bad for Australia-US ties – Butler

Mark Butler said the US tariff decision was “bad for our relationship” when asked whether it had a damaging effect on international relations on ABC News Breakfast a short while ago.

This is a disappointing decision. It’s a bad economic decision. It’s bad for our relationship. It’s bad for the US, ultimately, because we think that the exports we send to them - which are significantly less than the exports they send to us - are good for the US economy. They’re good for US industry. They’re particularly good for defence, which is an important area of cooperation.

We think this is a bad decision that’s disappointing, and we’ll continue to press the case for it.

We’ve only been going at this for almost seven weeks that President Trump has been back in office. We intend to continue to press the case at the highest level – particularly ambassador Rudd has been relentless in this, meeting with officials almost constantly to press the American case. We’ve had a lot of senior ministerial engagement.

Obviously the prime minister has spoken directly with the president. We’ll continue to do that. It’s not only in Australia’s interest – which for us, is the most important thing – we’re confident, we’re very sure it’s in both of our interests’ interest to continue the open trade that has characterised particularly the last 20 years under the US FTA.

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Spiritual healer who served magic mushrooms at Victorian retreat where woman died escapes drug trafficking conviction

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Deanne Mathews fined $3000 after pleading guilty to trafficking psilocybin at Clunes wellness retreat where Rachael Dixon fell ill and died

A woman has admitted serving up magic mushrooms at a spiritual retreat where a participant died, leaving court without a conviction recorded for drug trafficking.

Spiritual healer Deanne Mathews, 53, was fined $3000 after she pleaded guilty to the single charge at Bacchus Marsh magistrates court on Wednesday.

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Labor’s ‘devastating’ bail laws overhaul sparks outrage from legal, human rights and First Nations groups in Victoria

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Proposed changes, which include scrapping principle of remand as ‘last resort’ for youth, condemned as ‘backwards step’

Legal, human rights and First Nations groups have condemned the Victorian government’s overhaul of the state’s bail laws, which will force the courts to treat children accused of serious crimes like adults when deciding whether to remand them or release them into the community.

The premier, Jacinta Allan, on Wednesday announced proposed changes to the Bail Act that would result in more unsentenced people who have not been convicted of a crime being remanded in custody.

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‘We stuffed a lot of things up’: Sportsbet CEO slams his company’s past advertising campaigns

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Barni Evans laments being involved in an advertising ‘arms race’ and says company did not do enough to stop integrity threats to major sports

Australia’s largest online gambling company has conceded it failed to properly understand its responsibility to prevent financial crime and did not do enough to stop serious integrity threats to major sporting codes.

The Sportsbet chief executive, Barni Evans, told an industry conference in Sydney on Wednesday that the company “forgot to do some grownup things” and “stuffed a lot of things up”, including its involvement in an advertising “arms race”.

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Indigenous leaders celebrate as court rejects appeal in landmark Yunupingu compensation case

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High court upholds ruling against commonwealth that Gumatj clan’s land was not acquired ‘on just terms’, in case initiated by renowned land rights activist

Traditional owners say justice has been served for their people as the high court dismissed a commonwealth appeal in a landmark compensation case.

The commonwealth lost the high court battle over whether it may be liable for up to $700m in compensation for bauxite mining at Gove in north-east Arnhem Land.

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Help for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is available on 13YARN on 13 92 76

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Northern Territory’s growing saltwater crocodile population gorging on nine times more prey than 50 years ago

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Research shows apex predators are increasing in numbers and excreting important nutrients into Top End waterways

The growing saltwater crocodile population in the Northern Territory has led to the creatures gorging on nine times more prey than they did 50 years ago, with the apex predators contributing important nutrients to Top End waterways, new research suggests.

Saltwater crocodile populations have increased exponentially in recent decades, from less than 3,000 in 1971, when a ban on hunting was introduced, to more than 100,000 animals today.

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Staff at the Age protest over Trumpet of Patriots gender ad as Newcastle Herald apologises for running it

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Australian Community Media, publisher of the Newcastle Herald, removes ad promoting Clive Palmer’s party from digital edition, saying it does not meet the company’s values

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The Newcastle Herald has apologised for publishing a front page ad from Clive Palmer’s new Trumpet of Patriots party which says “there are only two genders”, as journalists at the Age say they are “furious” the Melbourne newspaper has apparently accepted the same ad for publication.

In the past week the Age has published Palmer’s anti-immigration and anti-welcome to country advertisements, which have also appeared in News Corp publications.

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Dutton says Labor claims ‘utter nonsense’; multimillionaire faces new child abuse material charges – as it happened

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This blog is now closed

Good morning blog readers – this is Rafqa Touma, and I’ll be taking you through the day’s live news updates. Thank you to Martin Farrer for getting us rolling this morning.

More than 125,000 properties are in the dark as crews work to restore power across QLD and NSW in Alfred’s aftermath.

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Former bikie boss Sayed Moosawi directed ‘James Bond’ arson attacks in Bondi, court hears

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NSW police allege Moosawi directed two men who have pleaded guilty to setting the Curly Lewis brewery on fire in October 2024. He has denied all charges

A former bikie boss is among 14 people charged this week over a wave of alleged antisemitic attacks in Sydney that authorities claim were designed to distract police from organised crime or influence prosecutions.

On Tuesday, 32-year-old Sayed Moosawi, a former chapter president of the Nomad bikies, pleaded not guilty to three charges related to two alleged arson attacks on businesses in Bondi Beach in October.

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Backlash in Brisbane as New Order gig gets go ahead in storm-damaged city

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Ticket holders for the Tuesday night concert at an outdoor riverside venue have complained about the decision to go ahead in the wake of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred

Live music promoters TEG Group and British band New Order are facing a public backlash after announcing they would go ahead with a scheduled concert in Brisbane as the city grapples with major flooding in the wake of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

The concert, part of the Manchester synth-pop pioneers’ Australian tour, is set to take place Tuesday night at Riverstage, a 9,500-capacity outdoor venue located on Brisbane river, within the city’s Botanic Gardens.

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Trump vows to take ‘hundreds of billions’ in tariffs as Australia’s hopes of getting exemption fades

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Australia unlikely to escape US president’s global steel and aluminium tariffs despite intense lobbying to be carved out

Australia’s chances of escaping America’s global steel and aluminium tariffs appear all but extinguished, with the US president reconfirming his commitment to a comprehensive tariff regime he argues will be “the greatest thing we’ve ever done as a country”.

“We’re going to take in hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs, and we’re going to become so rich, you’re not going to know where to spend all that money,” Donald Trump told reporters on board Air Force One flying from Florida to Washington DC.

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When Cyclone Alfred forced a wildlife hospital to close, this rescue koala found a new place to recuperate

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Laura Leaf had a sick possum for company when she spent three nights in a spare room at Mallory Wilson’s Nerang home

Laura Leaf, a rescued koala, was the last surgery of the day at Currumbin wildlife hospital, just hours before its doors were due to close to ride out Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

But after undergoing emergency abdominal surgery on Wednesday, Laura Leaf needed round-the-clock care – and the Gold Coast hospital’s intensive care unit was about to be shut.

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Alfred may have blown Albanese’s election plans off course, but now the PM can show he has the common touch

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The prime minister has more reason than most to be the boots on the ground after 63% of voters said he is not in tune with ordinary Australians

Anthony Albanese might have expected to have been on his campaign plane on Monday, flying between marginal seats on the first day of the election trail proper.

Instead he’s sloshing around in the wake of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred – the weather event that was meant to bear his name and blew his election announcement plan right off course.

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