Mother is on trial in Brisbane after girls were allegedly taken from grandmother’s house and subjected to procedure
Two Queensland girls were playing outside their grandmother’s house in Somalia when they were allegedly taken away to have their genitals mutilated, a court has heard.
Their mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is on trial in Brisbane district court.
Continue reading...A biennial report shows attitudes shifting in support of key aims of the reconciliation movement
An overwhelming majority of Australians support a formal “truth telling” process to acknowledge past injustices against Indigenous people, the latest survey on community attitudes towards reconciliation shows.
The reconciliation barometer survey, conducted by Reconciliation Australia every two years, shows attitudes shifting in support of some of the key aims of the reconciliation movement.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Activists urge embassy to ‘tell us if they’re alive or dead’ amid claims of inaction by Canberra
Seventeen Australian residents are believed to be under house arrest, in prison or detained in China’s secretive “re-education” centres in Xinjiang, the Guardian can reveal.
The 17 cases – 15 Australian permanent residents and two on spouse visas – have been collected by Nurgul Sawut, an advocate for Uighurs in Australia, through interviews with their family members.
Continue reading...As the identity of Informer 3838 remains under wraps, the royal commission into police informants exposes a scandal that worsens by the day
It’s a matter of pride for lawyers that they are free and able to work both sides of the street. In particular the cab-rank rule for barristers dictates as much. One day as a prosecutor, next for an accused; for the state and against it. And in the civil sphere there’s much swapping of hats while working for plaintiffs and alternatively for defendants.
Now we have the Victorian police informer and former barrister known variously as Lawyer X, Informer 3838 or in judicial proceedings as EF, working “both sides of the street” to new and previously unexplored levels. She was shopping her clients to the police who were prosecuting them, notably when she acted as counsel for Melbourne crime figure Tony Mokbel and his associates while simultaneously providing information to the police about her clients. About eight years ago Victoria police paid her almost $2.9m in compensation for her troubles.
Continue reading...Mountain Sounds festival called off by organisers a week before event was due to take place on central coast
A New South Wales music festival has been cancelled just a week out from the event, and the organisers say it’s “another example of the government’s war on festivals”.
Mountain Sounds festival was due to be held on the central coast next weekend, but on Saturday the organisers announced it would not be going ahead.
Continue reading...The divers, who were named 2019 Australians of the Year, have written to the Thai prime minister to free the refugee
The Thailand cave rescue diving heroes and Australians of the Year, Dr Richard Harris and Dr Craig Challen, have joined the campaign to save the refugee footballer Hakeem-al Arabi, a Bahraini refugee and resident of Australia who is being detained in Bangkok.
Harris, an anaesthetist and diver from Adelaide, and Challen, a champion diver from Wangara, Western Australia, were part of the global team that freed the trapped Wild Boars football team in July 2018. They have been friends and cave diving partners for years.
Continue reading...Party will rally its base and harvest undecided voters by banging the drum on Labor’s tax measures
This weekend, I think it’s productive to take you into the world of Coalition MPs as they pack their bags anticipating the return of federal parliament next week.
The parliamentary weeks show the Morrison government at its most vulnerable because the Coalition no longer commands a majority in either chamber, but it’s not the resumption of parliament many MPs are fretting about.
Continue reading...Goods dispatched in coming days may not arrive until after 29 March deadline
British exporters sending goods to far-flung destinations in the coming days risk being locked out of harbours around the world as a no-deal Brexit looms, business leaders have warned.
Independent trade experts and the UK’s biggest business groups said exporters could be dispatching goods from UK ports imminently that would not arrive until after the 29 March deadline. This raised the prospect of goods being stuck in ports or facing hefty additional costs in the event of a disorderly Brexit.
Continue reading...ANU research suggests net cost of achieving Paris targets is zero because renewables are now cheaper than fossil fuels
New research finds Australia is installing renewable energy faster than any other country, a trend that will allow Australia to meet its economy-wide Paris targets five years ahead of schedule if politics doesn’t derail the trend, according to new research from the Australian National University.
While emissions have been rising across the economy since the Abbott government repealed the carbon price after winning government in 2013, they have been falling in the electricity sector because of the closure of ageing coal plants and the rapid uptake of renewables.
Continue reading...An independent inquiry has delivered its findings about the gynaecologist Emil Shawky Gayed after Guardian Australia revealed he was the subject of dozens of complaints from women about botched surgery and other practices at numerous hospitals in New South Wales and the ACT. Here are some of the cases uncovered so far – the list will be updated as more information is received or when more patients give permission
Continue reading...Survivors of the Kinglake bushfire of 7 February 2009, which took 120 lives, talk about their struggle to move on
“Half the town is on medication, and the other half should be.”
That’s bushfire survivor Anne Dixon’s dark-humoured attempt to describe how people from the mountain-top hamlets around Kinglake are coping 10 years on from Black Saturday.
Continue reading...Tim Wilson, in his hurry to ‘help’, has overreached and anyone can see his position isn’t tenable
If it wasn’t already obvious, we have entered the “whatever it takes” stage of proceedings.
The Coalition wants to get back into the contest, and is on the hunt for the knockout blow, or blows. The core objective at the moment is to get the whole country roiling about Labor’s “retirement tax” (that isn’t a tax, just like the carbon tax was never a tax despite what Tony told us).
Continue reading...R&B singer announces tour of Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka after explosive documentary detailing accusations
The R&B singer R Kelly, who is facing multiple accusations of sexual abuse, has announced a tour to Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, prompting concern from members of the public and some MPs.
The tour, which was announced in social media posts from the singer – but was accompanied by no dates or venues – comes in the wake of an explosive documentary detailing allegations that the artist has been sexually and physically abusing women for decades. R Kelly has denied the allegations, and has faced no criminal convictions.
Continue reading...Warren Entsch demands investigation after German convicted kidnapper boasts about new shipment
A government MP has said it “beggars belief” that more endangered Australian birds have been exported to a German organisation headed by a convicted kidnapper and extortionist, after a Guardian investigation revealed there had been multiple warnings that the birds could be sold to collectors at a huge profit.
Warren Entsch repeated calls for an independent investigation into how the Association for the Conservation of Threatened Parrots was able to receive hundreds of rare and endangered birds from Australia, after its founder, Martin Guth, used a social media post to say more endangered species had arrived at its facilities in January.
Continue reading...Labor leader says failure to act will show Coalition ‘putting the interests of the big banks’ first
Bill Shorten says Scott Morrison must schedule two extra sitting weeks in March to fast-track the legislative changes recommended by the banking royal commission, saying failure to act quickly will show voters the government is “putting the interests of the big banks ahead of them”.
As Morrison signalled executives of the National Australia Bank should reflect on Kenneth Hayne’s “sharp” assessment of their conduct, Shorten wrote to the prime minister on Tuesday, declaring it was critical the reforms be legislated as soon as possible, and demanding two extra sitting weeks be scheduled in March.
Continue reading...Study rates this week’s unprecedented monsoonal rainfall as comparable to a one in 1,000-year flood
Australian authorities must plan for more severe floods, experts have warned, amid concern that the management of the Townsville Ross River dam contributed to extensive flooding when a massive amount of water was released downstream.
The decision to open the floodgates when the dam water level reached 43m was based on a 2012 study that warned doing so could cause more extensive property damage during the most extreme flooding events.
Continue reading...Hundreds of residents in Townsville have been evacuated and two men are missing as the area is hit with a year’s worth of rainfall in nine days
• Townsville flooding: two missing as questions mount over dam release
Continue reading...Scientists in Australia and China create 3D map revealing the true shape of the galaxy
The Milky Way is warped and twisted rather than flat like a celestial pancake, according to the most accurate 3D map of the galaxy yet.
Related: Nearby galaxy set to collide with Milky Way, say scientists
Continue reading...State government warns residents to beware of crocodiles and snakes, which were reportedly heading into suburban areas
After eight days of heavy monsoonal rain, authorities in the north Queensland city of Townsville had no choice but to open the floodgates of the Ross River Dam, deliberately flooding about 2,000 homes.
The decision was made as the Queensland government also published a warning to people to beware of crocodiles, snakes and other wildlife, which were reported to have left the swollen river and headed into some suburban areas.
Continue reading...Torrential rain forces authorities to open Ross River dam floodgates, releasing 1,900 litres a second in ‘once-in-a-century flood’. Follow all the developments • Townsville floods: Queensland premier warns ‘we haven’t got to the peak’
At this stage, authorities expect the Ross River to peak about 11am, and for the peak to last most of today.
That’s potentially good news for Townsville residents, especially those under threat but not yet underwater. It’s also a sign that the flood emergency is unlikely to end any time soon.
Overnight, Townsville residents were warned to stay out of the water – and for good reason. A number of crocodiles sightings have been reported, while the authorities also warned of snakes in the water.
Continue reading...