Category Archives: Australia news

NSW police say off-duty officers’ shouts of ‘Allahu Akbar boom’ after dispute with Muslim man were ‘banter between friends’

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‘The chanting you heard was not directed at you in any way,’ inspector tells Sydney man who complained about neighbour’s Christmas party in Glenmore Park

A NSW police internal investigation has found that off-duty officers who allegedly shouted “Allahu Akbar boom” and “Hezbollah” at a Christmas party after a verbal dispute with a Muslim man who lived next door were indulging in “banter between friends”.

The incident allegedly took place on 13 December at Glenmore Park in western Sydney, after the man complained to his neighbours about water from their swimming pool leaking into his property.

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NSW Labor divided over Chris Minns’ plan to extend controversial youth bail laws

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Exclusive: MLC Stephen Lawrence tells party room government is putting state on ‘slippery slope’ to more punitive approach

The New South Wales premier is facing growing internal dissent over his plan to extend controversial youth bail laws, with one MP telling caucus the laws had put the government on a “slippery slope”.

Sources say Labor MLC Stephen Lawrence – a former barrister and one-time mayor of Dubbo – argued during a February meeting that the government was on a path whereby it could adopt further punitive approaches because the laws introduced a year ago weren’t working.

If crime wasn’t going down there could be calls for even tougher measures, leading to a dangerous downward spiral, Lawrence suggested.

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Australia will not revise critical minerals-for-tariffs exemption deal rejected by Trump administration

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Resources minister says she is ‘sad’ the US did not embrace a more reliable supply of minerals for renewable energy and battery technologies

The Australian resources minister was saddened the US did not accept an offer of guaranteed supply to critical minerals in return for steel and aluminium tariff exemptions, and has warned the package will not be improved.

Australian diplomats proposed a more reliable supply of critical minerals – which are essential for renewable energy, computer and battery technologies – as they sought exemptions from a 25% tax on steel and aluminium imports.

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Female prisoner allegedly sexually abused for years by prison guard settles with NSW government

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Woman alleged she was raped when the department of justice already knew Wayne Astill was ‘abusing his position towards female inmates’

A female prisoner allegedly sexually abused for years by a senior prison guard will be paid an undisclosed sum as part of a New South Wales government settlement in an ongoing class action.

Court documents filed to the NSW supreme court reveal that the woman, known as GP1, alleged she was raped when the department of justice already knew Wayne Astill, a prison guard, “was abusing his position toward female inmates”.

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Baby wombat-snatching US influencer apologises and says she was ‘concerned’ for Australian animal

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Sam Jones, who left Australia on Friday, posted a 900-word statement questioning outrage in country where ‘slaughter of wombats’ is permitted

A US hunting influencer who caused outrage in Australia after grabbing a baby wombat from its mother says she is sorry for the incident but was only trying to ensure its safety by removing it from a road.

Sam Jones left the country on Friday morning after the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, said immigration authorities were checking if she had breached the conditions of her visa.

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The new reality dawning in Australia: it can no longer rely on the US

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For all the fraternal rhetoric, the alliance has always been asymmetric. It seems Washington under Trump sees it as immaterial

It’s not really about the tariffs.

Not for Australia the brutal humiliation meted out on camera to Ukraine in the Oval Office. Nor Canada’s escalating war of invective and retaliatory sanctions.

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Get the app, consider capacity and be ready for behavioural change: top tips on installing a home battery

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Guardian readers share what they wish they had known before taking the plunge

So you’re finally ready to install a battery at home. There is much to consider – from cost and capacity to the behavioural changes that can boost efficiency. Here, Guardian readers make it easy by sharing their experiences and offering key pieces of advice for how to get the most out of it.

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Fatberg weighing 30,000kg is pulled from a sewer in Western Australia

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The blockage – thought to be the state’s biggest ever – was discovered at a wastewater facility during routine maintenance

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The biggest ever fatberg found in Western Australia has been pulled from a sewer, weighing in at 30,000kg.

Fatbergs are made up of material that cannot dissolve in water – such as oil, grease and wet wipes flushed down sinks and toilets – which then pile up and stick together.

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NSW bans hay imports from south-east Queensland amid fear of fire ants after Cyclone Alfred

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Invasive Species Council says moratorium a ‘knee-jerk reaction’ to inadequacy of national eradication program

New South Wales has temporarily banned the import of hay from parts of south-east Queensland as a precaution against invasive fire ants, which are on the move in large numbers thanks to flooding from ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

But the Invasive Species Council said the move is a Band-Aid response and accused the Queensland, NSW and federal governments of dropping the ball in suppressing fire ant numbers within infested areas.

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LNP accused of ‘outrageous betrayal’ after halting implementation of anti-discrimination law reform

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Attorney general says legislation developed in response to Citipointe scandal could ‘create unnecessary burden on organisations and institutions’

The Queensland government is facing criticism after announcing an indefinite delay to the implementation of anti-discrimination law reforms designed to protect victims of domestic violence, homeless people, women at work and others.

The state attorney general, Deb Frecklington, told parliament on Friday she would introduce legislation to delay implementation of the Respect at Work and Other Matters Amendment Act 2024.

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‘Bad’ hate crime laws quickly passed after terror ‘con job’ must be reversed, crossbenchers insist

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Independents and legal experts say Labor and the Coalition’s team-up to ‘ram laws through parliament’ was rushed, lacked transparency and was ‘bad politicking’

Labor and the Coalition have been accused of “bad politicking” by teaming up to pass tough hate crime laws in the wake of a series of antisemitic incidents, including one revealed this week to be a “fake terrorism plot”.

Crossbench MPs also backed a review – or a reversal – of the laws, after the revelations about the caravan plot.

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Australians are obsessed with SUVs and huge utes, but experts say they are making our roads deadlier

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About 60% of the 1.2m cars that drove out of the showroom last year were SUVs, but road fatalities reached a 12-year high too

George Upjohn vividly remembers his interaction with the driver of an SUV after a collision that happened while cycling in Sydney’s south.

“I had blood all over my shins and when I hobbled up and asked why she didn’t turn her head to check to her side before veering into my lane, she said she didn’t need to because the sensor in her car would have alerted her to me. She said I must have been at fault and rode into her,” the 32-year-old claims.

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Elon Musk’s Starlink could be used to transmit Australian election voting results

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Contract comes to light after questions raised about the increasing role of Musk in Australia’s communications systems

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The Australian Electoral Commission is planning on using Elon Musk’s Starlink services as back up for transmitting voting results information in the upcoming federal election.

In a contract published late last year, the AEC appointed Telstra responsible for the agency’s fixed line and Starlink services until mid-2027, in a deal worth $1.38m. A spokesperson for the AEC confirmed Starlink could be used in the upcoming election for sensitive election data.

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Politics is Clive Palmer’s ‘golf’ – and he’ll keep pouring money into it as long as his wife will let him

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Mercurial mining magnate answers questions at the National Press Club through Tim Tams, telling journalists: ‘It’s my money. If I lose it, I lose it’

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Clive Palmer faced a conundrum in Canberra on Thursday: whether to answer a question on China and Taiwan from one of the press gallery’s most esteemed journalists, or swallow the chunk of chocolate biscuit he’d just bitten into.

In the end, he did both, telling Andrew Probyn from Nine News that “once the American commitment goes, Taiwan wouldn’t be able to defend itself” through a mouthful of Tim Tam.

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Baby wombat-snatching US influencer at risk of losing Australian visa

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Video footage, described as ‘callous’ and ‘pretty dreadful’, showed Sam Jones grabbing the joey from its mother at night

A US hunting influencer who shared video of herself snatching a baby wombat away from its mother is being investigated for a potential breach of her Australian visa.

The footage, with scenes described as “callous” by the RSPCA and “pretty dreadful” by the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, showed the Montana-based influencer Sam Jones grabbing the wombat joey at night as it was walking with its mother.

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Former cricketer Stuart MacGill guilty over cocaine deal but acquitted of major drug supply

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Sydney court finds leg-spinner arranged meeting between dealer and brother-in-law but jury dismissed he knew quantity

Former Australian Test cricketer Stuart MacGill knew he was taking part in a cocaine deal but was oblivious about the large scale of the exchange that began under his restaurant, a jury has found.

The leg-spinner was acquitted by a Sydney district court jury on Thursday of taking part in a large commercial drug supply in April 2021.

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Australians urged to shop around as power prices set to rise up to 9% from July

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Peter Dutton blames the government for proposed rises but won’t guarantee power prices will be lower if he wins coming election

Hundreds of thousands of households face higher power bills after the energy regulator proposed lifting benchmark prices by up to 9% in some regions.

The move prompted the energy minister on Thursday to concede power bills are “too high” and urge users to shop around for the best deal, while the opposition branded the price rise a failure of Labor’s energy policy.

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Two women face court charged with manslaughter after home-birth death of NSW baby

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Police allege 41-year-old woman was practising as an unregistered midwife while another woman, 51, held no medical qualifications and was also unregistered when baby died

Two women who police allege practised as unregistered midwives have been charged with manslaughter after a baby died after a home birth on the New South Wales mid north coast.

The women, aged 41 and 51, appeared in Coffs Harbour local court on Wednesday in relation to the newborn boy’s death in 2022.

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New Vanuatu PM says he will ‘revisit’ 2022 security agreement with Australia

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Exclusive: Jotham Napat said pact must be taken ‘back to the drawing board’ and should reflect climate change as security issue

Vanuatu’s new prime minister has said his government intends to “revisit” a security agreement with Australia, arguing it does not reflect his country’s priorities including climate change and travel mobility for its citizens.

Jotham Napat, who was elected in February, said the pact with Canberra had to be taken “back to the drawing board” as he sought a “win-win situation” in a renegotiated deal.

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Dead and dying Port Pirie birds and bats exposed to lead at 3,000 times acceptable levels

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South Australia’s EPA did not open a formal investigation into the source of the lead poisoning, despite referral from the Department of Primary Industries

South Australia’s Environment Protection Authority did not open a formal investigation into what may have killed dozens of birds in Port Pirie, despite tests showing some of the animals had been exposed to 3,000 times the acceptable level of lead.

In July 2024, residents of the industrial town raised the alarm when they found dead and dying native birds and flying foxes in local parks and green spaces.

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