Category Archives: Australia news

‘Not welcome’ in Australia: from Tampa refugee to Fulbright scholar, via New Zealand

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New Zealand gave a home, and hope, to Abbas Nazari. He wishes all refugee children could be given the same chance

Abbas Nazari was stranded on a ship in the Indian ocean when he first heard the words “New Zealand”.

Then aged 7, Nazari’s mother, father and four siblings were among 430 asylum seekers, predominantly of the ethnic minority Hazaras of Afghanistan, plucked from a sinking fishing boat by the Norwegian cargo ship, the Tampa. They were later transferred to the HMAS Manoora, where they waited for asylum after Australia refused to accept them; creating an international quagmire over which country would, or should, offer sanctuary on humanitarian grounds.

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Federal court overturns attempt to block medevac transfer from Nauru

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Appearing to set an important precedent, judge rules doctors don’t have to speak to patient to make assessment

The federal court has overturned the home affairs department’s attempt to block the medevac transfer of a critically ill 29-year-old Iraqi man from Nauru, by ruling that doctors don’t have to speak to a patient in order to make a medical assessment.

In a judgement delivered on Tuesday, Justice Mordecai Bromberg found in favour of the refugee, whose lawyers had claimed the department secretary, Mike Pezzullo, had refused to notify the minister of the man’s application for a medical transfer, which would commence the process.

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Coalition awarded $1.4bn in grants in election lead-up – half without an open tender process

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Battleground states of Victoria and Queensland were biggest beneficiaries, receiving $422m and $331m respectively

The Coalition awarded almost $1.4bn in grants through its regional development program in the lead-up to the election, with about half of the funding not subject to a competitive tender process.

The spending included grants made through the Stronger Communities program, a political slush fund that gives every lower-house MP $150,000 to spend on small community projects costing between $1,500 and $20,000. Almost $100m has been paid out under the scheme since it was first announced in the 2015 budget.

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Cracked up: how can apartment buyers guard against a defective purchase?

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The Owners Corporation Network’s advice is blunt: ‘Don’t buy a new apartment over three storeys’

With faults and cracks discovered over the weekend in Sydney’s Mascot Towers apartment complex – and similar cracks in Opal Tower six months ago – the spotlight is back on the quality of New South Wales apartment buildings.

Research from the University of NSW in 2015 found that 85% of new apartment buildings had defects at completion – mostly with waterproofing and fire detection systems – and the certification system had “broken down”.

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John Setka threatens to halt CFMMEU donations to Labor and vows to pursue leakers

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Union boss says he will mount a legal challenge against moves to expel him from Labor party

The embattled union boss John Setka has threatened to halt CFMMEU donations to Labor, said he would mount a legal challenge against moves to expel him from the party and has indicated he will investigate who had leaked against him from the union’s national executive.

The federal Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, has said he plans to expel Setka at a 5 July national executive meeting over claims the CFMMEU Victorian secretary denigrated anti-domestic violence advocate Rosie Batty in a conversation with union colleagues.

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Keneally backs medevac laws after Dutton claims Labor may help repeal bill

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Peter Dutton says legislation creates ‘broad power’ to overrule minister but Keneally says this has been ‘misconstrued’

Kristina Keneally has reaffirmed Labor’s support for the medevac legislation after Peter Dutton claimed the opposition is looking to repeal or amend the law which facilitates medical transfers from offshore detention.

On Sunday the home affairs minister said that more than 30 people have come to Australia under the medevac bill and gave new details about the refugee swap deal with the United States, including that two Rwandans accused of murder are the only people to have come to Australia under the deal.

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Australian-based company’s PNG mine could pose big environmental risk

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Gold and copper project for Sepik region also has potential to cause social conflict and unrest, report says

A gold and copper mine proposed for the Sepik region in Papua New Guinea by an Australian-based company threatens to destroy the health of a major river system, poison fish stocks and cause violent unrest, a report has found.

The Chinese-owned company, PanAust, says the Frieda river project could have a 45-year life span and generate A$12.45bn in tax, royalties and production levies for the PNG government and landholders.

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Lobbyist firm Barton Deakin says it ‘strongly supports’ introduction of watchdog

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Barton Deakin voices support for reforms designed to bolster transparency and integrity

One of Australia’s biggest lobbyist firms has said it “strongly supports” the introduction of an independent commissioner to investigate and oversee the sector.

The New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption is currently probing the weaknesses in the regime governing NSW lobbyists, and its chief commissioner, Peter Hall, has warned reforms are now “overdue”.

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Robot sex expert on honours list plans college with Fraser Anning to teach ‘Trumpism’

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Adrian Cheok, who was made a member of the Order of Australia, has been censured for ‘aggressive, belittling’ language towards colleagues

A robot sex expert and former far-right candidate who was awarded a Queen’s Birthday honour for “significant service to international education” says he is setting up a graduate school with Fraser Anning which will teach classes on “Trumpism” and “Bannonism”.

Prof Adrian Cheok was also accused in an open letter by organisers of a 2017 academic conference of using “aggressive, belittling” language towards another professor. In a separate incident, he also labelled another academic as “psycho … old, fat and balding” and said he worked at a “tin pot university”, according to a report in the Chronicle of Higher Education.

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Nothing new in Coalition’s nuclear awakening. No wait, perhaps there is

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Could this be the catalyst for the Coalition of 2019 to reconnect itself with the position it adopted in 2007 for sound reasons?

Fair warning before we kick off this weekend. Increasingly, I’m reaching that stage of my professional life where I can be heard muttering, and sometimes shouting, I’m too bloody old for this.

My long-suffering colleagues in the Canberra bureau of Guardian Australia have absorbed bouts of muttering and shouting over the past few weeks as various Nationals and some Liberals have lined up post-election to support a new inquiry into nuclear energy, as if this might be a light bulb moment.

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‘Long live love’: Blanche d’Apulget pays tribute to Bob Hawke in memorial service – politics live – politics live

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Party greats, members of former PM’s family and those who knew him best led the public service at the Sydney Opera House

The Guardian brains trust are going to show you a few more photos from Mike Bowers, and a couple more bits and bobs from the day, so I will leave you in their very, very capable hands.

Politics Live will be back, with parliament, in just a few short weeks.

The crowd here has had a singalong and toasted to Bob – there’s a lot of love in this little Brisbane pub.

There is also a lot of love in the Opera House, where David Marr has been watching the service and crowd along with Mike Bowers.

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Christchurch massacre: Brenton Tarrant pleads not guilty to all charges

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Trial to be held in May 2020 for Australian man who faces 51 murder charges, 40 of attempted murder and one terrorism charge

Australian Brenton Tarrant has pleaded not guilty to all charges in relation to the Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand.

Tarrant, 28, is facing 51 charges of murder, 40 of attempted murder and one of engaging in a terrorist act. The trial, estimated to take six weeks, will go ahead on 4 May, 2020.

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Blue Mountains wilderness would be ‘permanently’ changed by raising dam wall, leak reveals

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Draft report says Warragamba dam changes would affect Aboriginal historical sites

A leaked draft report has predicted world heritage areas of the Blue Mountains would be “permanently” changed by a controversial New South Wales government plan to raise a dam wall.

The state government is proposing to raise the walls of the Warragamba Dam by 14 metres to mitigate the impact of floods – a move that environmental activists say would flood Unesco-protected bushland, and endanger 50 historic Indigenous sites.

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Australia must use past success to reset future asylum policy, professor says

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Jane McAdam of the Kaldor Centre for refugee law argues for seven principles to inform new policy and overturn ‘draconian’ laws

Australia can reset and reform its refugee and asylum seeker policy by looking to its past successes and best current practice from around the world, a leading refugee law study centre has found, to create a “principled and pragmatic” approach.

The UNSW Andrew and Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law has examined best practice refugee policy throughout the world, crafting seven principles as a foundation for “a more positive, long term approach” to how Australia treats those seeking asylum.

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John Setka refuses to resign and says reports he denigrated Rosie Batty are ‘fabricated’

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Victorian CFMEU leader says attacks on him are ‘political smears’ and that he answers to union members

Embattled union boss John Setka has said he will not stand down as CFMMEU Victorian state secretary, plunging the union movement further into crisis.

“There’s no reason for me to resign,” said Setka, who fronted the media Wednesday with his wife, Emma Walters.

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US fought for right to launch fresh case against two Rwandans accepted by Australia

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Exclusive: court documents show US attorney wanted to be able to prosecute pair again for ‘horrendous’ crime, before they came to Australia in refugee swap deal

Two Rwandans accepted into Australia were accused of crimes so “grave” and “horrendous” that the United States fought for the right to prosecute them a second time, court documents show.

The Australian government sparked controversy last month for accepting two Rwandan militants previously accused of murdering tourists in targeted 1999 attacks in the Bwindi Impenetrable national park in Uganda.

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Coalition unlikely to get full tax cut package passed, key crossbencher says

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Centre Alliance demands gas export controls, fearing any tax cut will go into the ‘pockets of overseas energy companies’

The Centre Alliance senator Stirling Griff says it is “most unlikely” the Coalition will be able to pass its full income tax cut package in the first week of July when parliament returns, and has joined Labor’s call for the government to split the legislation.

Griff, who is one of two key crossbench senators in negotiations with the government over the $158bn tax cut package, said he was waiting for a response from Treasury and the Coalition after the party outlined its demands on energy policy.

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Labor holds off supporting Indonesian free trade agreement

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ALP had pledged to renegotiate agreement if it won office but will now wait until parliament resume to decide whether to ratify it

Labor is holding out its support for the Indonesian free trade agreement signed off by the Coalition in the previous parliament, as the trade minister, Simon Birmingham, warns against a retreat into protectionism following a meeting of G20 trade ministers.

Speaking to Guardian Australia following the meeting in Tokyo over the weekend, Birmingham said that given trade tensions between China and the US, the country’s signed agreements with Indonesia, Peru and Hong Kong carry additional importance.

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Death in custody: police failed to see Indigenous man no longer needed restraining, coroner says

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Shaun Coolwell died in hospital after being handcuffed and injected with the sedative midazolam

Queensland police and paramedics dealing with an Indigenous man during a violent, drug-induced episode failed to recognise the sudden deterioration of his health, a coroner has said.

Shaun Charles Coolwell died in hospital after being sedated and restrained in his sister’s Logan home, south of Brisbane, in October 2015.

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