The 21-year-old student at Melbourne’s LaTrobe University is believed to have been returning home from a comedy show
A young woman who was killed outside a Bundoora shopping centre was an Israeli student who was on a video call to her younger sister when she was attacked.
Aiia Maasarwe, 21, had been in Australia for about six months on a study abroad program at LaTrobe University.
Continue reading...Aged care minister says he was disturbed by footage of elderly men being chemically and physically restrained
On the eve of the royal commission into the aged care sector’s first hearing, the Morrison government has flagged new regulations on the use of chemical and physical restraints in nursing homes.
There are no rules in Australia governing the use of restraints in aged care facilities, unlike the US, Britain and Europe.
Continue reading...Australia had its warmest ever December on record and temperatures this week nudged 50C in some places
Temperature records have been broken in towns across parts of Australia sweltering through a heatwave, which is currently in its fourth day.
Australia also recorded its hottest December on record the Bureau of Meteorology said on Thursday in a special climate statement on “the unusual extended period of heatwaves” across much of the country.
Continue reading...Tony Abbott in second place as activist group looks to extend list of targets
Peter Dutton is the most unpopular Australian politician among GetUp supporters, with the activist organisation now looking to extend its “hard right” MP target hit list for the upcoming federal election.
The home affairs minister, who is already facing an established GetUp campaign against him in his marginal Queensland seat of Dickson, dominated the activist group’s poll of most loathed politicians, attracting 22,028 first-place votes.
Continue reading...Police ramped up breath testing target from 3.2m to 4.5m but had a ‘perverse’ incentive to limit the number of drunk drivers netted
An independent investigation has branded Victoria police’s widespread practice of falsifying breath tests as an “ethical failure”.
The former police chief commissioner Neil Comrie’s inquiry was unable to determine exactly how many times police had manipulated breath test devices to falsely inflate the number of tests conducted.
Continue reading...Severe weather conditions forecast to bring maximum temperatures 8C to 16C above average, as three towns record overnight minimums of 33C
Coping with extreme heat: share your photos
Port Augusta in South Australia has reached 48.9C on Tuesday, as a heatwave sets in across much of Australia threatening more record hot days.
All-time highest minimum temperatures have also been broken in three places. Meekatharra in Western Australia and Fowlers Gap and White Cliffs in New South Wales all registered an overnight minimum of 33C on Monday.
Continue reading...PM says ceremonies must be held on Australia Day, but some councils say they are too small, or too hot
The federal government has been told to put its money where its mouth is on the question of Australia Day. Councils are arguing they should be financially compensated if they are forced to hold citizenship ceremonies on 26 January.
A day before he launched a rebrand of his Coalition government, Scott Morrison on Sunday said he was “prime minister for standards” as he spruiked a new rule that would force councils to oversee the ceremonies on Australia Day. The government will also ban “board shorts” and “thongs” from those events.
Continue reading...Cast your ballot to help determine Australia’s best regional, remote and metropolitan beaches. You can vote once per category.
Beaches have been categorised according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics remoteness region they are within. Can’t see your favourite? Suggest it below - if enough nominations are received, we will add it to the list
Continue reading...What tickles your fancy when land meets sea? Brad Farmer recommends choosing your ‘best beach’ discerningly
• Vote for Australia’s best beaches
• Open thread: tell us about your favourite beach
As a child, a day at the beach was pure bliss and the salty, splashing, bucket and spade days went on to form the greatest of lasting memories. Now, as an adult, each time I go to the beach – any beach – the ephemeral experience on this thin strip of sand where land meets sea still fascinates and delights me as a celebration of the senses.
I have my favourites of course, many from those carefree, halcyon days as a sun-kissed kid. But are they the “best” beaches of Australia’s honour roll of 11,761 beaches and does it really matter?
Continue reading...Lim’s lawyer, Bryan Wrench, tells crowd the pair will not tolerate ‘political censorship’
More than 150 people have surrounded a Sydney police station to protest against the treatment of sandwich board activist Danny Lim after footage of him being arrested sent social media into a frenzy.
The cult Sydney figure is now considering legal action against police.
Continue reading...Much of Australia will bake this week with meteorologists forecasting the hot conditions will last for days in some parts
Every state and territory will bake through a heatwave on Monday with meteorologists saying soaring temperatures will last for days in some parts.
The Bureau of Meteorology said hot days were expected in January but multiple days in a row of temperatures above 40C were unusual.
Continue reading...Human Rights Watch says government should have acted with more urgency to help Rahaf al-Qunun
Human Rights Watch Australia has criticised the government’s handling of a Saudi teenager’s bid for asylum, after the 18-year-old was granted safe haven in Canada.
Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun fled from Kuwait to Thailand, saying she had been abused by her family and feared for her life if deported back home.
Continue reading...Western Australian timber town joins Australia’s list of big things thanks to the tenacity of Kevin Bird and his 6m clock
It rains a lot in Nannup. The small timber town in south-western Western Australia, population of just over 1,300, receives almost a metre of rainfall a year. For a builder like Kevin Bird, that means a lot of days when it’s too wet to work.
It could be an opportunity to catch up on the accounts, or even leave off work for the day and read a book. Instead, Bird used his wet-weather days to build the largest wooden pendulum clock in the world.
Continue reading...74-year-old previously had a conviction for offensive conduct overturned over sandwich board that mocked Tony Abbott
Sydney sandwich board activist Danny Lim has been arrested and fined for offensive behaviour.
Three police officers arrested the 74-year-old at Exchange Place in Barangaroo about 9.20am on Friday. It’s unclear what the offensive behaviour involved.
Continue reading...Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, 18, fled to Thailand last week accusing her family of abuse
An 18-year-old Saudi woman who said she was abused by her family and feared for her life if deported back home has left Thailand for Canada, which has granted her asylum, officials said.
The fast-moving developments capped an eventful week for Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun. She fled her family while visiting Kuwait and flew to Bangkok, where she barricaded herself in an airport hotel to avoid deportation and grabbed global attention by mounting a social media campaign for asylum.
Continue reading...Law Council president Arthur Moses says legal profession would be very troubled if proposal is rushed for political purposes
The government has allowed Australia’s peak legal body just 36 hours to respond to its public child sex offender register proposal, a move the Law Council has labelled “absurd”.
Peter Dutton announced on Wednesday the government was considering establishing a register which could include the postcode, name and photo of child sex offenders. Reaction was mixed, but Dutton said the government would be asking for the views of a wide range of stakeholders, including child advocacy groups and legal representatives.
Continue reading...Sixteen-year-old dies after he and his mother were swept away while skiiing at St Anton am Arlberg
A 16-year-old Australian boy has been killed in an avalanche in Austria, local police said.
The boy was skiing with his parents and 14-year-old brother at St Anton am Arlberg, western Austria, on Wednesday, when he and his mother were swept away by the avalanche, local news reports said. His mother was able to escape unhurt, but the boy was buried in 2m of snow.
Continue reading...Exclusive: senator claimed expenses for two trips to Babinda in 2018, where his brother owns a hotel
Fraser Anning claimed a taxpayer-funded accommodation and meals allowance for staying at his brother’s hotel in the regional town of Babinda.
The independent senator’s use of taxpayer funds for travel has been under scrutiny since he announced he would bill the public to travel from Queensland to a far-right rally in St Kilda on Saturday.
Continue reading...Girl to be transferred from Hamilton Island to have bite on foot treated, while woman was bitten on leg
A child and a woman have been bitten by a shark in the Whitsundays.
Related: Shark attack: five survivors on what it's like when a great white tries to eat you
Continue reading...Bill Shorten urges Scott Morrison to accept Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun now that the UN has validated her refugee claim
Labor has said the Saudi teenager Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun should be resettled in Australia now that her refugee claim had been validated.
The party’s foreign affairs spokeswoman, Penny Wong, told ABC radio on Thursday Bill Shorten had written to Scott Morrison urging him to accept Qunun.
Continue reading...