Category Archives: Australia news

Property investors make up two in every five Australian home loans amid record borrowing

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Investor home borrowing surges nearly 18% in the September quarter compared with previous three months, prompting calls to ‘urgently rein in overheated credit market’

Property investors have borrowed record amounts of money for home purchases amid a decline in first home buyer lending and surging house prices.

Investors accounted for two in every five home loans from July to September, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Wednesday, sparking calls for the Albanese government to force banks to put the brakes on landlord lending.

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Asio accuses Chinese hackers of seeking access to Australia’s critical infrastructure

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Mike Burgess points to successful infiltration in the US by units known as Salt Typhoon and Volt Typhoon ‘working for the Chinese government’

Australia’s intelligence agency has accused “Chinese hackers” of seeking to gain access to critical infrastructure assets, including telecommunications networks.

In a speech to a business forum in Melbourne, the director general of the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation, Mike Burgess, said the nation now faced a threat of “high-impact sabotage”.

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Twice as effective as nets: shark-spotting drones to become ‘permanent fixture’ on Queensland beaches

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State government says expanded use of shark nets and drum lines will continue despite evidence of deadly impact on other marine life

Queensland will roll out shark-spotting drones to more beaches, after a major study found drones detected more than double the number of sharks caught in adjacent nets.

But while drones would become a “permanent fixture” of the state’s shark-control operations, the Department of Primary Industries said Queensland would continue to rely on “traditional measures like nets and drum lines”, despite evidence of their deadly impact on dolphins, whales, turtles and dugongs.

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Traditional owners file native title claim over Melbourne and surrounding areas

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Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung elder says the claim would allow First Nations people to work with government to ‘look after that country’

Traditional owners have filed a native title claim over Melbourne and surrounding regions.

The claim by the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people covers thousands of square kilometres, from the mouth of the Werribee River north to its headwater in the Great Dividing Range, east to Mount Baw Baw, south through Bunyip and west to Mordialloc Creek.

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Survey finds 40% of Australian women without kids hesitant to have children because of climate change

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Research which polled a representative sample of 2,000 people also found over a third of Coalition voters believed the climate would not change at all

About 40% of Australian women without kids say they are hesitant to have children because of climate change, a new survey suggests.

The survey, on attitudes about the impacts of global heating, also found that half of Australians were very or extremely concerned about climate change and two in five believed the climate would be “much hotter” in 2050.

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John Laws, Australian talkback radio star, dies aged 90

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Laws was inducted into the Australian Radio Hall of Fame in 2003 and received an Aria lifetime achievement award in 2008

The one-time biggest name in Australian talkback radio, John Laws, has died aged 90.

A member of the Australian Media Hall of Fame, Laws attracted 2 million listeners to his morning radio program at the height of his popularity during a career that spanned more than seven decades.

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Victoria police re-enact single gunshot heard hour after Dezi Freeman fled into Porepunkah bushland

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‘Firearms testing’ triggered by reports of gunshot at about 11.45am on day Freeman is alleged to have killed two police officers serving warrant

A reported single gunshot has sparked a fresh line of inquiry in the long-running manhunt for alleged police killer Desmond “Dezi” Freeman.

Victoria police conducted “firearms testing” near Barrett Lane and Rayner Track in Porepunkah, about 210km north-east of Melbourne, on Wednesday as part of their search.

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Australia news live: Crisafulli declares end to ‘cannoli diplomacy’ with Albanese over lack of hospital funding

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Follow today’s news live

BoM’s axing of free flood forecasting ‘potentially deadly consequences’

Natural disaster-prone councils in south-east Queensland say the Bureau of Meteorology’s decision to axe its free real-time flood forecasting tool is a “cost shifting” exercise with “potentially deadly consequences”, with New South Wales emergency services also affected.

The main treatment for viral gastroenteritis is to rest and drink plenty of fluids. Most people recover without complications, but more urgent care may need to be sought for infants, people with suppressed immune systems, and the elderly, who may experience more serious illness.

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‘Loophole’ in sanctions allowing Russian oil to be imported to Australia through port part-owned by Macquarie Bank

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Australia stopped buying fuel directly from Russia after its invasion of Ukraine but has imported more than 3m tonnes of its oil products since 2023

Millions of tonnes of Russian oil have been traded through a port part-owned by Macquarie Bank and potentially sold on to Australian businesses, new data shows.

The identification of a new link between Australia and the trade in Russian-origin products exposes further gaps in government sanctions, as Australia lags behind the EU and the UK in tightening import rules.

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Kellie Sloane is tipped to replace Mark Speakman as NSW Liberal leader. That should make life tougher for Chris Minns

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Sloane, an ex-journalist, is good at delivering lines. But if the state Coalition tears itself apart over net zero, she could be left talking up a fractured opposition

Compared with their federal colleagues, the New South Wales Coalition has been a relatively collegial conservative political grouping. But no more.

Over the next fortnight, the NSW Liberals could well dump their leader, Mark Speakman, and face the almost impossible task of reconciling divergent positions on net zero emissions with junior coalition partner the Nationals. There is a real prospect that the state opposition could fracture.

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Nationwide recall of alfalfa sprouts linked to ‘unusual strain’ of salmonella after dozens infected across Australia

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Health authorities urge consumers not to eat affected products sold in multiple supermarkets and grocers

Health authorities have issued a nationwide recall of alfalfa sprouts, urging people not to eat affected products, after at least 44 people across Australia contracted an unusual strain of salmonella.

The recall applied to 125g packets of sprouts produced by Parilla Fresh, which included: Aussie Sprouts Alfalfa Sprouts, Hugo’s Alfalfa Onion & Garlic Sprouts, Hugo’s Alfalfa & Radish Sprouts, Hugo’s Alfalfa & Onion Sprouts, Hugo’s Salad Sprouts, Hugo’s Alfalfa & Broccoli Sprouts and Hugo’s Trio Sprouts Selection.

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One-year-old girl dies after being struck by freight train in NSW

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The toddler was treated by paramedics at the scene in the tiny village of Baan Baa on Friday night but later died in hospital

A toddler has died after being struck by a freight train near Narrabri in New South Wales.

Emergency services were called to Baranbah Street in the tiny village of Baan Baa in the state’s north at 7.50pm on Friday.

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Graham ‘Richo’ Richardson, former Labor party powerbroker, dies aged 76

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Former NSW senator and right factional enforcer has died aged 76 after a long period of ill health

Anthony Albanese has led tributes to the former Labor powerbroker Graham “Richo” Richardson, acknowledging him as a flawed but loyal and “larger-than-life character”.

Richardson, a senator for New South Wales between 1983 and 1994 and a minister in the Hawke and Keating governments, died early Saturday morning aged 76.

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Severe storms forecast for parts of NSW as Victoria and Queensland face wet weather

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BoM says destructive winds and ‘very dangerous thunderstorms’ are most likely across the Hunter, mid-north NSW coast and northern tablelands

Severe storms with the potential for destructive winds and large hail are expected to move across New South Wales on Saturday.

Storms were also expected in parts of Queensland and Victoria.

Sydney 32C with showers and then storms developing.

Melbourne 13C with rain increasing.

Brisbane 31C with a late shower or two.

Perth 28C and sunny.

Adelaide 18C and cloudy.

Hobart 15C and partly cloudy.

Canberra 26C with a shower or two and then becoming windy.

Darwin 34C and partly cloudy.

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Mother of transgender teen accuses Queensland government of privacy breach that could have ‘outed’ her child

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Revelation comes as LNP accused of ‘intimidation’ after demanding sensitive medical details from parents of transgender children

The Queensland government released private information about the mother of a transgender teenager – information she says potentially “outed” her child – to a stranger.

The revelation came as the state government was accused of “intimidation” and “an invasion of privacy” after demanding confidential medical information from parents of transgender children who are considering a further legal challenge to its controversial ban on puberty blockers.

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Google to build new AI datacentre on tiny Australian Indian Ocean outpost after signing defence deal

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Military experts say facility on Christmas Island would be valuable asset to monitor Chinese submarine and naval activity

Google plans to build a large AI datacentre on Australia’s remote Indian Ocean outpost of Christmas Island after signing a cloud deal with the Department of Defence earlier this year, according to documents reviewed by Reuters and interviews with officials.

Plans for the datacentre on the tiny island located 350km south of Indonesia have not previously been reported, and many details, including its projected size, cost and potential uses, remain secret.

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Illegal tobacco burns $3.3bn hole in Australia’s tax revenue, crime agency says

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ACIC report says total impact of illicit trade on economy amounted to $4bn in a year amid debate over cigarette excise

The illegal tobacco market has left a $3.3bn hole in the federal government’s finances, with Australia’s national criminal intelligence agency warning organised crime’s dominance of the market is continuing to grow.

The Australian Taxation Office believes the illegal trade now accounts for one in five tobacco sales, which has led to reduced tax revenues despite the government’s excise on legal cigarettes reaching almost $30 for a pack of 20 sticks in September. The excise has increased almost eightfold since 2006, when it was $4.65.

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Sam Groth’s ambition to be premier meant articles on relationship with wife ‘not idle gossip’, News Corp claims

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Court told new privacy laws shouldn’t apply to Herald Sun stories alleging Victorian MP’s wife, Brittany, was underage at start of relationship

News Corp stories alleging Sam Groth began dating his wife, Brittany, while she was underage were far from “idle gossip” given the claims were being “weaponised” by rivals of the Victorian Liberal MP, who aspires to become premier, the publisher has told a court.

The Herald and Weekly Times (HWT), reporter Stephen Drill and Herald Sun editor Sam Weir are being sued in the federal court over a series of articles published in July. Groth is suing for defamation while his wife has launched the first test case of new laws for serious invasions of privacy.

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Pauline Hanson skips parliament to speak at conservative conference at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago

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One Nation leader also seen with Gina Rinehart – and many of her talking points align with mining magnate

Pauline Hanson skipped parliament this week to speak at a conservative conference at Donald Trump’s luxury resort in Florida, where she was pictured alongside Gina Rinehart, Australia’s richest woman.

The One Nation leader, who resided at Mar-a-Lago ahead of her address at the multi-day event run by the Conservative Political Action Conference, lambasted both major parties in Australia during the speech while praising the US administration for deporting immigrants, bombing drug cartel boats and supercharging mining projects. Tickets to CPAC ranged from $US5,000 to $US25,000.

This article and headline was amended on 6 November, 2025, to clarify that tickets to CPAC ranged from $US5,000 to $US25,000 per person.

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Prosecutors asked if manslaughter charge will be considered if Greg Lynn overturns high country murder conviction

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Appeal judges also seek advice on whether motive of former Jetstar pilot would be considered in event of retrial over Carol Clay’s death

The Victorian court of appeal has asked the office of public prosecutions if it would “amend its hand” – including on whether a manslaughter charge would be laid – in the event Greg Lynn was retried over the killing of an elderly camper.

Lynn, 59, was found guilty in June last year of murdering grandmother Carol Clay, but was acquitted of murdering her fellow camper and lover, Russell Hill.

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