Category Archives: Australia news

In the Philippines they think about gender differently. We could too

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The labels we give ourselves can be helpful but restrictive too. Let’s embrace diversity by celebrating fluid identities

We were excited young filmmakers, sitting in one of our first pitch sessions, a panel of executives lined up against us. They had flicked through our script, looked at our mood boards and praised our song choice for the sizzle reel (Man! I Feel Like A Woman). Then the question dropped: “Which one of you is the alphabet person?”

I realised I was the only one holding my hand in the air. Then the guessing game began, as the executives ran through the letters – LGBTQIA+ – until they landed on one that gave them some understanding of who I am.

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Victoria bushfires: three homes lost in out-of-control blazes in state’s east

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About 400 firefighters are battling blaze 65km east of Melbourne with hazardous conditions expected to continue on Sunday

At least three homes have been lost to a large fire sparked by lightning in a state forest in Victoria’s east.

Aircraft will be sent up on Sunday morning to work out what types of properties were destroyed by the fires at Bunyip State Park about 65km east of Melbourne.

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‘Not a life sentence’: Christopher Pyne plots next move after 26 years in parliament

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The ‘fixer’ intends to enter the world of business, and lists the advice he gave John Howard in 1993 as one of his big regrets

Regrets, the retiring Christopher Pyne may have had a few, but one quickly sprang to mind when he was asked whether, looking back, he wished he had done anything differently.

“I probably wouldn’t have told John Howard in 1993 that his time was over, we wouldn’t go back to him,” he said. “That led to some period in the freezer for me.”

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Former Melbourne bikie leader Amad Malkoun injured in Athens car blast

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Authorities believe bomb attack might have been carried out by an organised crime gang

The former Melbourne bikie leader Amad “Jay” Malkoun has been seriously injured in an apparent car bomb attack in Athens.

Malkoun, who was previously Victorian head of the Comancheros, was attempting to start his Mercedes outside a gym in the upmarket suburb of Glyfada on Friday when the blast occurred.

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The medevac bill is law: what does that mean for ailing offshore refugees?

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A diversion to Christmas Island, a change of law on Nauru and other complications may hinder the ability to provide care

When the medevac bill – which on Friday became law – passed parliament, it was intended to create a streamlined process to get sick refugees and asylum seekers into the medical care they needed in Australia, because it wasn’t available on Manus Island or Nauru.

The government expressed concerns the bill could lead to weakened borders and national security. Amendments to the bill gave the minister 72 hours to assess a transfer referral which, if he or she refused, would be sent to an independent medical panel. The panel could override a minister’s refusal on health grounds but the minister has the final veto if there are security issues surrounding the patient.

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‘It looked prehistoric’: angler describes fish that resembled creature from Alien

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Rare mud-dwelling fish, with sharp teeth and no eyes, is believed to be a worm goby, but is not dangerous

An Australian fisherman, who captured a rare, unsettling fish that resembled a creature from the sci-fi film Alien, says it was “not all that exciting” and he caught it with a beer in his hand.

Andrew Rose was fishing in the Northern Territory’s Kakadu national park when he snagged a 15cm-long worm goby – a rare, mud-dwelling fish with no eyes, a bony head and sharp teeth.

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‘Right intention’: Kelly O’Dwyer rules out changes to ParentsNext before election

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Minister says errant providers of the welfare program will be penalised, but critics say this is ‘too little, too late’

Kelly O’Dwyer has ruled out making changes to the contentious ParentsNext welfare program before the election, despite urgent calls from the employment services sector, social service and women’s groups, and Australia’s human rights watchdog.

Defending the $350m program as having the “right intention”, the jobs minister said the government would instead consider penalising providers that breached the rules.

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Alarm over failure to deal with Solomon Islands oil spill threat

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Mining operations continue while more than 500 tonnes of fuel oil remain on board MV Solomon Trader, almost a month after it ran aground

The environmental damage from an oil spill in the Solomon Islands has been worsened by a bauxite mining company’s continued loading operations near the site where a $30m bulk carrier went aground last month.

The Solomon Islands government has sought urgent help from Australia to deal with the environmental disaster because of frustrations at the slow progress in dealing with the spill.

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Endurance cyclist Mike Hall’s death avoidable, says Australian coroner

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Hope expressed that fatal collision near Canberra will be ‘catalyst for change’

The death of a renowned British endurance cyclist who was hit by a car while competing in a 3,500-mile race across Australia was avoidable, a coroner has concluded.

Mike Hall, 35, died almost instantly when he was struck from behind by a vehicle on a stretch of the Monaro Highway about 25 miles south of Canberra on 31 March 2017.

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Robert Richter apologises for describing George Pell’s abuse as ‘vanilla sex’

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After a ‘sleepless night reflecting’, barrister says sorry for his ‘terrible choice of phrase’

Robert Richter has apologised for his “terrible choice of phrase” in describing George Pell’s sexual abuse of a 13-year-old choirboy as “vanilla sexual penetration”.

The queen’s counsel has been widely criticised for the remark, which came during a plea hearing for the cardinal who is now behind bars awaiting sentence for orally raping the boy, and molesting him and another 13-year-old after a Sunday mass in 1996.

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Commentators doubting Pell verdict send ‘damaging message to survivors’

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Public doubt around verdict may deter victims from seeking justice, says head of child sexual abuse legal service

The head of a child sexual abuse legal service has slammed commentators who have publicly doubted the verdict in the George Pell trial, warning it sends an “incredibly damaging message to survivors”.

On Thursday Warren Strange, the executive officer of Knowmore legal service, told a parliamentary inquiry he expects the “unprecedented” publicity around the Pell case to drive a spike in claims but media commentary doubting the verdict may deter victims from seeking justice.

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Last four refugee children leave Nauru for resettlement in US

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Move follows intense campaign by refugee advocates for all children sent to the island by the Australian government to be taken off

The last four children living in Australian government-run offshore processing on Nauru have now left the island, amid a group of 19 people flown to the US for resettlement.

The group includes a number of Iranians, according to refugee advocates, contradicting persistent suspicions that Donald Trump’s travel ban on six nationalities was blocking refugees from the resettlement scheme.

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The Kid and The Choirboy – the harrowing story of George Pell’s victims

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In this extract from Cardinal: The Rise and Fall of George Pell, one boy’s family tell Louise Milligan the cataclysmic effect abuse had on him

This is the story of two teenage boys sent on scholarships from what were then Melbourne’s inner suburbs to a Catholic boys’ school – St Kevin’s College. St Kevin’s is in Toorak, Melbourne’s most exclusive precinct.

The school is wedged between the Kooyong Tennis Club and the Yarra River, and closed behind grand iron gates with gilded lettering. The boys wear boater hats and navy blazers, candy-striped with emerald and gold. While the area the boys came from has now gentrified, in the 1990s it might as well have been a different planet.

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‘Take him away, please’: George Pell hadn’t dressed for prison, but that’s where he went

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The only question on the agenda today was how long the man who once bestrode the Catholic world will be living behind bars

The script was bare. “Take him away, please,” said Judge Peter Kidd at 3.10pm and Cardinal George Pell picked up his stick, nodded to the guards fore and aft and walked through a blank door at the end of the dock into the underworld.

Nothing his barrister, Robert Richter, argued could have saved Pell from this fate.

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Hakeem al-Araibi: thank you Australia for bringing me home – but my fight is not over

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Bahrain will do anything to hunt down dissident athletes and their families. International sporting bodies must step up to protect the helpless

I can never truly express my gratitude to you all, the Australian people, for bringing me home. There were countless dark moments over the 76 days of my detention, when my future looked nothing but bleak. The prospect of never seeing my wife, family or friends again became too close to reality.

The moment I was reunited with my loved ones, hundreds of supporters made it to the airport to give me a warm welcome that went far beyond my imagination. It is something I will never forget for the rest of my life.

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George Pell’s lawyer says child abuse was ‘plain vanilla’ sex as cardinal heads to jail

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Cardinal Pell is remanded in custody following his conviction for child sexual assault, which judge calls ‘callous, brazen offending’

Cardinal George Pell has been taken in custody following a sentencing hearing in which his lawyer, Robert Richter, described one of Pell’s offences as a “plain vanilla sexual penetration case where the child is not actively participating”.

After the hearing, with Pell’s lawyer having withdrawn his application for bail, the chief judge, Peter Kidd, said: “Take him away, please.” Pell will be sentenced on 13 March after his conviction for sexually assaulting two 13-year-old boys.

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George Pell loses position as Vatican treasurer after guilty verdict

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Holy See says convicted child abuser will remain a cardinal at least until appeal is heard, but he is no longer prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy

The Vatican has confirmed that Cardinal George Pell’s position as the prefect of its Secretariat for the Economy has not been renewed, with the role one of the highest in the Catholic hierarchy.

In December Pell was found guilty of one charge of sexual penetration of a child under the age of 16 and four counts of an indecent act with a child under the age of 16. The verdict could not be widely reported until Tuesday owing to a suppression order.

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George Pell: Vatican to await cardinal’s appeal before taking any action

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Close associate of Pope Francis faces jail sentence for child sexual abuse crimes

The Catholic church’s already shaky credibility on sexual abuse was dealt another hammer blow on Tuesday, with its third most powerful figure and a close associate of Pope Francis facing a jail sentence for crimes committed against two choirboys in the 1990s.

The news that Cardinal George Pell – who until the weekend was in charge of the Holy See’s finances and of rooting out corruption at the heart of the church – had been found guilty on five charges of sexual abuse was painful and shocking, said the Vatican.

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Cardinal Pell guilty: Vatican treasurer convicted on child sex abuse charges – latest news

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George Pell, Australia’s most senior Catholic, has been found guilty of sexually assaulting two 13-year-olds in 1996 and 1997 at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne. Follow live updates
• Full report: Pell found guilty of child sexual assault
• Explainer: what has Pell been convicted of?
• Five times guilty: how Pell’s past caught up with him
• Journalists accused of breaking suppression order may face jail
• ‘Disgraceful rubbish’: the moment Pell reacted to child abuse allegations

Some detail on the process behind stripping someone of the Order of Australia.

in what circumstance could George Pell's Order of Australia be rescinded? per the Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General

-Council for the Order of Australia investigates
-recommends action to the GG
-process can't be finalised until end of court proceedings pic.twitter.com/eUlOXYL5v9

Another blow.

Richmond Football Club has today removed Cardinal George Pell as a Club Vice Patron. While acknowledging his right to appeal, the Club has formed a view that his association is no longer tenable or appropriate.

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Pope Francis beset by global sexual abuse scandal after George Pell’s conviction

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Pontiff talks of ‘remorse’ and ‘never again’ but the church’s culture is impervious to change, and there will be more horrors to come

• Follow live updates on the reaction to Cardinal George Pell’s conviction
• Full report: Pell found guilty of child sexual assault
• Explainer: who is Pell and what has he been convicted of?

Pope Francis must have hoped that last week’s unprecedented summit in Rome of senior bishops and church figures from around the world would mark a turning point for his papacy on sexual abuse. The world would see that the Vatican was finally getting a grip on the issue that has caused such grave damage to the church for the past 20 years.

Such hopes have been dealt a devastating blow by the news that Cardinal George Pell, until recently the third most senior figure at the Vatican, is facing a prison term for the sexual abuse of minors in the 1990s.

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