Category Archives: Australia news

Alan Jones trial: complainant wants to ‘humiliate’ broadcaster by revealing intimate details of alleged assaults, defence tells court

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Barrister alleges ‘account of penis wiggling is an attempt to humiliate’ broadcaster who has pleaded not guilty to 22 charges of indecent assault and sexual touching

Alan Jones’s defence barrister has told a Sydney court one of the broadcaster’s alleged victims invented details of alleged indecent assaults at a Fitzroy Falls farm to “humiliate” and “smear” the former media titan.

Complainant J told the court during evidence-in-chief earlier this week that during one alleged incident in the property’s bedroom, Jones’s penis was not fully erect and “not very big”.

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‘We expected it, but now it’s here’: on the frontline of Australia’s bird flu outbreak, people are distressed

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As Australia prepares for the H5 bird flu to potentially rip through hundreds of species, residents of the Limestone Coast are already seeing the impacts

It has only been three weeks since H5 bird flu was detected on South Australia’s Limestone Coast and already encounters with sick or dead birds are becoming commonplace.

Maureen Christie, who lives in the seaside town of Carpenter Rocks, has been observing and protecting birds in the region for decades. She is now witnessing many stricken and suffering.

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Two Iranian female footballers granted Australian citizenship after protest

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  • Players stayed in country after Asian Cup in March

  • Duo condemned as traitors in Iran for not singing anthem

Two former Iranian footballers said on Thursday they were proud to have been granted Australian citizenship after being called traitors at home for refusing to sing the national anthem before a game.

Fatemeh Pasandideh and Atefeh Ramezanisadeh were members of a group of seven from Iran’s delegation who asked for Australia’s protection after the protest during the women’s Asian Cup in March.

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Good Samaritan dies days after being attacked while trying to stop Melbourne shoplifters

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Van Viet Truong was critically injured after coming to the aid of a fellow retail worker in Sunshine

Council flags are flying at half-mast in honour of a good Samaritan who died days after he was allegedly attacked by shoplifting youths outside a Melbourne shopping strip.

Van Viet Truong was critically injured after he rushed to the aid of a fellow retail worker trying to stop the group stealing clothes in Sunshine in Melbourne’s west on Saturday, police allege.

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Good Samaritan dies days after being attacked while trying to stop Melbourne shoplifters

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Van Viet Truong was critically injured after coming to the aid of a fellow retail worker in Sunshine

Council flags are flying at half-mast in honour of a good Samaritan who died days after he was allegedly attacked by shoplifting youths outside a Melbourne shopping strip.

Van Viet Truong was critically injured after he rushed to the aid of a fellow retail worker trying to stop the group stealing clothes in Sunshine in Melbourne’s west on Saturday, police allege.

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Pregnant woman dead and toddler found unharmed after outback Queensland siege ends in apparent murder-suicide

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A 45-year-old man and 23-year-old woman were found dead in the Charleville home after a near eight-hour police siege

A pregnant woman and a man have been found dead at a home in the outback Queensland town of Charleville, in an apparent murder-suicide after a protracted overnight standoff with police.

Police confirmed on Thursday that a toddler, who was found unharmed, had been at the home during the eight-hour siege that began on Wednesday evening.

Several streets in the remote town, 600km west of Toowoomba, were locked down by police after officers arrived at the property on King Street following reports of “a serious assault”.

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Chris Bowen vows to override Queensland and NT to force renewables-powered AI datacentres

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Energy minister says Australian households and energy reliability will be protected by new federal legislation

The energy minister, Chris Bowen, says the federal government will override state governments that oppose new national rules on datacentres, with commonwealth legislation forcing new AI datacentres to be powered by renewable energy and banning those fuelled by gas.

Bowen said he expected his counterparts in Queensland and the Northern Territory – who had protested against the new federal rules at a meeting last week – to be unhappy with the move, but said the Albanese government was committed to powering the AI revolution with renewable energy.

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Test for Australia’s best laundry detergent sees Aldi and Omo tied for first place

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In a Choice test of 48 products, the Aldi powder also came out on top for top loaders

Consumer advocacy group Choice has put more than 40 supermarket laundry detergent products through the wringer, naming two Omo and one Aldi product as its best performers – while some other brands perform barely better than water.

In a lab test of 48 laundry powders, liquids and capsules, Aldi Trimat Advanced Laundry Powder Concentrate, Omo Active Clean Powder and Omo Ultimate Powder shared equal-first billing for front loader washing machines, with all three products scoring 82% overall.

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Daniel Andrews defends actions as opposition labels Labor ‘a gangster government’ after Ibac report released

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Victorian corruption watchdog finds ‘serious and concerning’ conduct by senior Andrews government members in dealings with union boss

Former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has defended the actions of senior members of his government, whom the state’s anti-corruption watchdog found engaged in “serious and concerning” conduct in their dealings with the leader of the firefighters’ union.

A long-awaited report by the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission, tabled in parliament on Wednesday, stopped stopped short of making any findings of corrupt conduct.

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‘Did you send that report?’ The Icac bombshell that came late for Damien Tudehope

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The former Liberal finance minister was questioned by Icac counsel assisting, Peggy Dwyer, on Tuesday

The bombshell came in the last five minutes of former finance minister and rightwing powerbroker Damien Tudehope’s examination before the Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac).

At 3.30pm on Tuesday, Tudehope was shown an email which he sent in February 2023, attaching a leaked draft parliamentary report into branch stacking in the Hills area by the Reformers, the shadowy group at the centre of Icac’s Operation Rosny.

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Jetstar to charge fees up to $52 to put carry-on baggage in overhead lockers

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Airline says struggling to find room in overhead lockers on planes a ‘stressful part of the airport experience’

Jetstar will charge its passengers up to $52 to put carry-on baggage in the overhead locker, in a major change to the budget airline’s carry-on rules.

In a press release on Wednesday morning, the airline announced it would remove the 7kg weight limit for carry-on bags, beginning in February 2027. There will still be size restrictions.

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Naplan results 2026: reading and writing worsens in Australian schools as one in three students fail to meet benchmarks

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Education minister Jason Clare says the results showed ‘real challenges’ but numeracy scores were heartening

Reading and writing scores are going backwards for almost every age group in Australia’s national standardised school tests, with one in three students still failing to meet Naplan benchmarks.

This year’s tests were taken in March by 1.2 million students across years 3, 5, 7 and 9 to measure literacy and numeracy proficiency, with results released on Wednesday by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (Acara).

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Trump wants ‘fair treatment’ in fight over Labor’s levy on tech giants to pay for news, US trade group warns

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National Foreign Trade Council ‘disappointed’ at move to expand News Bargaining Incentive but Australian experts say government is not going far enough

A major US trade body has rubbished the Albanese government’s plan to make more big tech platforms pay for Australian journalism, issuing a veiled warning about how Donald Trump may respond to the “deteriorating trend”.

The National Foreign Trade Council said it was “disappointed” at the Australian government’s move to expand its News Bargaining Incentive (NBI) to take in Microsoft’s LinkedIn, amid trade tensions between Washington and Canberra including newly increased tariffs on Australian goods.

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Alan Jones argues ‘rivalry’ and ‘treachery’ but after decades wielding the sword of public opinion, he’s the one on trial

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His legal strategy was apparent from the very first. Jones will, it was explicitly stated, seek to undermine the ‘credibility and reliability’ of his accusers

Alan Jones has enjoyed decades as the centre of attention, as the wielder of power.

The booming voice, the vast radio audience, the bully pulpit of an eponymous TV show, the great and the good on speed-dial, a staffer in the prime ministerial office dubbed the “minister for Alan Jones”: these were not ancillaries peripheral to the Jones empire, they were central to it.

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Most Sydney road tolls to keep rising after Transurban accused of blocking reforms

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Handful of tollroads to get one-off price cuts but WestConnex toll to keep rising at least 4% a year

The cost of using Sydney’s biggest toll road will continue to rise at least 4% a year after the multinational private operator was accused of blocking the state government’s push for sweeping reforms.

Only a handful of Sydney’s motorways will receive one-off toll cuts under a deal announced by the state Labor government on Monday, as the tolling bill footed by taxpayers surpasses $1bn.

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Teenager didn’t tell anyone Alan Jones allegedly kissed and touched him as he feared losing financial help, trial hears

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Former 2UE and 2GB radio broadcaster is facing 22 charges. Jones, 85, has pleaded not guilty

A former schoolboy athlete has told the Alan Jones trial he didn’t tell anyone the broadcaster was allegedly kissing him and touching his genitalia when he was a teenager because he was “fearful” of losing Jones’s financial support.

The man, known as complainant J, alleged that after he drove Jones to a function in Canberra and they were alone in the hotel room, Jones kissed him in a “smothering” way. After the drive back to Sydney, Jones allegedly said to him: “You’ve been a really good boy. I’m going to give you some more money.” His regular weekly stipend increased by $100, the court heard. J also said Jones told him he didn’t have to tell anyone he was giving him money as it was “a gift”.

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One Nation unveils eight Victorian election candidates including former Liberal and anti-woke film animator

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Local councillor who says he used to work on Daniel Andrews’ security team also part of upper house lineup for November’s state poll

A former Liberal party candidate, the animator behind Pauline Hanson’s anti-woke film and a local councillor who says he worked on former premier Daniel Andrews’ personal protection team have been unveiled as One Nation candidates for the Victorian election.

Pauline Hanson held a press conference on Monday to announce the eight candidates who will lead One Nation’s upper house tickets at the November state election.

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A record number of First Nations people died in NSW prison custody last year. Advocates fear this year will be worse

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Exclusive: Karlene Whitton says her son Matthew Roberts took his own life three months into his jail term. ‘I keep picturing it every night’

First Nations advocates warn that prisons in New South Wales could exceed the record number of Indigenous deaths in custody set last year, after two men died this month.

Matthew Roberts, a 27-year-old Bundjalung, Yaegl and Gamilaroi man and father of two young boys, took his life inside Lithgow correctional centre on 7 July after he was remanded in custody in March. Another First Nations man, 21, died a week later at Clarence correctional centre.

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Queensland reveals concept plans for Brisbane Olympic stadium precinct – but critics say they are ‘fantasy vision’

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David Crisafulli says ‘Queenslanders will enjoy for generations’ as opponents point to lack of detail

The Queensland government has released new concept images for a parkland precinct to surround the 2032 Olympic stadium, as it seeks to quell concern at the loss of Brisbane’s largest inner-city parkland.

But opponents of the plans – now entering the early construction phase – to build a stadium at Brisbane’s Victoria Park say the concept images are a “fantasy vision” with no detail, and which overlook the likely need for carparks, roads, transport links and plazas to accommodate large crowds.

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EVs and hybrids approach half of Australian new car sales amid ongoing fuel crisis

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Australians bought EVs and hybrids at nearly same rate as petrol cars between April and June, Australian Automobile Association data shows

Australians are now buying electric and hybrid vehicles at the same rate as traditional petrol-powered cars, according to new data that shows EV sales doubled in the months after the peak of the fuel price spike.

Fuel prices are again on track to top $2 a litre, after the federal government’s fuel excise reductions – introduced to offset the impact of the ongoing crisis in the Middle East – come to an end on Sunday.

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