Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
Recovery won’t be easy for the Australians burned in the New Zealand volcano disaster, but some of the world’s best specialists are on hand to help
As families of the Australian survivors of the New Zealand volcano disaster wait anxiously on their loved ones’ prognosis, there will be a small comfort in knowing that some of the world’s best plastic surgeons and burns specialists will lead their care as they return home for treatment.
Specialist paramedics travelled to New Zealand as part of a medical evacuation team to accompany patients on their return, with 11 Australians flown to major burns units throughout the country including Concord hospital in Sydney and the Alfred hospital in Melbourne. More patients were expected to arrive on Friday evening.
The NZ defence force have released images of those who took part in the mission to recover the remaining bodies from White Island this morning.
We are expecting the New Zealand prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, to hold a news conference in the next few minutes and will bring you that as soon as it begins.
Scott Morrison resists Thodey review recommendations for increased accountability and mandated public-sector experience
The Morrison government has rebuffed a recommendation that it establish a legislated code of conduct for ministerial advisers, professing itself happy with the status quo.
The recommendation to bring ministerial advisers into a clearer accountability framework is contained in the long awaited Thodey review of the public service, which was released by the prime minister, Scott Morrison, on Friday. The review also recommended that the government set guidance for ministerial offices to have at least half of ministerial policy advisers with public service experience.
Exclusive: forest regrowth can reabsorb emissions from fires but scientists fear natural carbon ‘sinks’ have been compromised
Bushfires in New South Wales and Queensland have emitted a massive pulse of CO2 into the atmosphere since August that is equivalent to almost half of Australia’s annual greenhouse gas emissions, Guardian Australia can reveal.
Analysis by Nasa shows the NSW fires have emitted about 195m tonnes of CO2 since 1 August, with Queensland’s fires adding a further 55m tonnes over the same period.
Funding injection to National Aerial Firefighting Centre comes days after Morrison rejected calls for more help for firefighters
Australia’s aerial firefighting force has been given an $11m funding injection from the Morrison government amid growing concern about the resourcing of firefighters combating the bushfire crisis.
On Thursday the federal government announced it would nearly double the commonwealth’s annual contribution to the National Aerial Firefighting Centre, which coordinated the 140 aircraft used to battle fires across Australia.
Two more people have died from injuries sustained during the eruption on White Island
Two more people have died from injuries sustained during the eruption of New Zealand’s White Island volcano, bringing the confirmed death toll from the disaster to eight.
Brutal winter, poor healthcare and limited food raises fears for welfare of infant, born to Sydney woman Rayan Hamdoush
An Australian woman has given birth to a baby boy in the al-Hawl camp in Syria, prompting revived calls for Australia to rescue 67 nationals still held in the camp.
Rayan Hamdoush, 24, from western Sydney, was pregnant when she entered al-Hawl. She gave birth to the boy on 30 November. The boy’s father, Samer Hajj Obeid, also from Sydney, is missing.
Company hails start of the ‘electric aviation age’ after 15-minute test flight in Vancouver
The world’s first fully electric commercial aircraft has taken its inaugural test flight, taking off from the Canadian city of Vancouver and flying for 15 minutes.
“This proves that commercial aviation in all-electric form can work,” said Roei Ganzarski, chief executive of Australian engineering firm magniX.
Exclusive: ‘Frontline’ protester alleges he was chased by group but Chinese embassy says allegations are ‘nonsense’
A “frontline” Hong Kong democracy protester who recently fled the territory in fear of his safety says he was ambushed and chased in an Australian city by a group of masked Chinese men.
“They were nearby my house and waiting for me,” Jack* told Guardian Australia. “They knew my address, they knew where I was going to be.
“I think they don’t want to hurt me, they just want to make me scared. It was like intimidation, a message that ‘we know where you are’.”
Guardian Australia has been able to confirm some elements of Jack’s story, including that he arrived in Australia a few months ago and has attended pro-Hong Kong demonstrations since arriving. He has since reported the incident to police.
Human rights advocates and China experts say the claims match a trend of intimidation and surveillance on Australian soil. Several recent incidents – including a brawl at the University of Queensland where pro-China participants were praised by the consulate – have raised concerns about the extraterritorial activities of China, including the state’s pursuit of critics beyond its borders.
Under increasing pressure from the public and the opposition to create a federal anti-corruption body, the Coalition has put forward a proposal for a commonwealth integrity commission. However, critics, including one Coalition MP, say the proposed watchdog is weak, and gives undue protection to politicians.
Lawyer and columnist Richard Ackland analyses the current proposal and the case for a strong federal integrity commission.
Jacinda Ardern confirms that New Zealanders and tourists from Australia, the US, Britain, China and Malaysia are among missing on White Island/Whakaari. Follow rolling updates
Scott Morrison said it is “still too early to tell” the full extent of injuries of the 13 Australians in hospital around New Zealand but that “a number of them are in critical conditions” including those with “quite severe burns”.
Marise Payne said the Australians “are located in multiple hospitals around New Zealand, in Waikato, in Christchurch, in Middlemore in Auckland, in Tauranga and in Hart Valley”.
The challenge for the next few days is supporting those Australians who are so badly injured in hospitals across New Zealand, supporting their families and supporting the families of those who remain unaccounted for. We will be working closely with New Zealand authorities and with Royal Caribbean to provide any support that we can, and we will ensure that all assistance is provided to them and to their families.”
Australian prime minister Scott Morrison and foreign minister Marise Payne have given an update on the 24 Australians believed to be on White Island during the eruption.
Morrison said:
Of the 24 ones, we have been able to ascertain overnight and this morning that 13 of those Australians are hospitalised across multiple hospitals in New Zealand. There are 11 Australians that are still unaccounted for, and that we fear of the five deceased persons, that three of those, up to three are Australians, but that is not yet confirmed.
But with 11 Australians unaccounted for, three of those are feared to be amongst the five that have already been identified as deceased. This is a very, very hard day for a lot of Australian families whose loved ones have been caught up in this terrible, terrible tragedy. Can I also confirm that, after speaking with the New Zealand Prime Minister, that the operation has moved into recovery phase. There were four helicopters that were there as part of the recuse operation and assessing the scene, as the Prime Minister confirmed earlier, that were able to take a reconnaissance of the island at that time, and as New Zealand police said last night, there is not considered to be anyone on that island that remains alive ...
I fear there is worse news to come over the course of perhaps today or over the next few days. This is a terrible tragedy, a time of great innocence and joy interrupted by the horror of that eruption, and I would ask again that we refrain from any speculation about individuals at this time so we can ensure that we can contact and deal directly with families to ease what will be a highly anxious and highly upsetting time for them.”
Almost 3,000 firefighters across New South Wales will be deployed as more than 80 bushfires continue to burn and temperatures are expected to hit 40C. Follow all the latest updates
The Bureau of Meteorology says a southerly wind later this afternoon will help ease the smoke choking Sydney this morning, though it may not help firefighters battling blazes across the rest of the state.
A smoky start for #Sydney, with #smoke from nearby fires trapped overnight in a low-layer of the atmosphere, causing it to become concentrated. A southerly buster this afternoon will help reduce the smoke, especially nearer the coast. Health info re smoke: https://t.co/I3gS1GMBVApic.twitter.com/WJCrmDHsrv
Graham Ashton tells royal commission he knew gangland lawyer Nicola Gobbo was a police informer before he joined the force
Victoria’s top policeman knew gangland lawyer Nicola Gobbo was a police informer before he joined the force, but said he did not know the extent of her duplicity until years later.
Chief commissioner Graham Ashton was giving evidence on Monday at the royal commission into Victoria police’s use of informants.
Australian federal police say livestreaming of children performing sexual acts marks ‘alarming shift’
Australian paedophiles are paying as little as A$15 for children to perform sexual acts online while being filmed in the Philippines, according to the head of the Australian federal police team in Manila.
Senior officer Andrew Perkins told Guardian Australia there was an “alarming shift” from previously more common types of “sex tourism” to “convenient and low-risk” online abuse of children which can be customised to the specific requirements of customers.
Inquiry hears most koalas cannot move fast enough to get away from fires leaping from treetop to treetop
Fires burning around New South Wales have razed koala habitats so extensively “we will probably never find the bodies”, an ecologist has told a parliamentary inquiry.
On Monday the NSW upper house inquiry held an urgent hearing into the state’s koala population and habitat after this season’s “unprecedented” bushfires destroyed millions of hectares of forest.
Conditions ease but Labor urges emergency Coag meeting before extreme heat in NSW and Victoria
Firefighters have taken advantage of less extreme conditions to try to contain blazes burning across New South Wales ahead of worsening conditions and soaring temperatures expected on Tuesday.
More than 100 fires were still burning across NSW on Sunday, including the massive Gospers Mountain blaze, which is expected to burn for weeks.
The New South Wales Rural Fire Service is made up of mechanics, bakers, students, retirees and young parents. They face a dangerous Australian summer
Fire warning signs are pinned to thirsty eucalypts every few kilometres on the highway.
The paddocks around central west New South Wales look golden from a distance, but are crispy and brown underfoot. Wind has been howling for days, stirring up red dust on the horizon. Severe fire conditions are looming; it’s only the beginning of summer.
As air quality plummets on the Australian east coast as a result of devastating bush fires, residents of cities clogged with smog share their coping strategies
The east coast of Australia is in the grip of a bushfire and air pollution crisis. But plummeting air quality levels are a regular occurrence in cities in India, Latin America and China. Here, residents and experts from Delhi, Beijing and Mexico City explain how they survive the smog.