Category Archives: Australia news

Australia’s pro-Palestine movement shifts focus to pressuring Albanese to cut ties with Israel

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Groups call for Benjamin Netanyahu’s arrest and urge Australia to pressure Israel on Palestine just as South Africa was over apartheid

Pro-Palestine protests that have been held every week in Sydney and Melbourne since 7 October 2023 will now switch focus to pressuring the federal government into cutting ties with Israel, organisers have said.

Amal Naser, from the Palestine Action Group (PAG), called the ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel a “step forward” for the pro-Palestine movement in Australia, and said the group would now pivot from weekly protests to targeted protests that call for specific policy change in government.

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Teacher who told Sydney Catholic Schools she was transitioning allegedly asked to move and not given shifts

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Zoe Conolan-Glen’s discrimination case has now been referred to the federal court

A music teacher who told the management of Sydney Catholic Schools she was transitioning was allegedly asked to move to a different school before being given no shifts for a year.

Sydney woman Zoe Conolan-Glen lodged a discrimination complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission in July 2024, which was referred to the federal court on 18 December, claiming the prospective school’s management also asked intrusive questions, including which staff bathroom she would use and how she would react if a parent complained about her identity.

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Anthony Albanese convenes national cabinet on antisemitism after Sydney childcare centre set alight

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Prime minister, who has previously resisted calling the meeting, says it will focus on recent wave of attacks and graffiti

National cabinet will meet on Tuesday afternoon to discuss antisemitism in Australia, after Anthony Albanese pledged that the latest attack on a Sydney childcare centre “will lead to action”.

The prime minister previously resisted calls for such a meeting, saying on Monday Australians did not just want to see more meetings on antisemitism.

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NSW government in 11th-hour bid to postpone mass resignation of psychiatrists

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State asks Industrial Relations Commission to urgently arbitrate on the matter before resignations take effect from Wednesday

The New South Wales government will make an 11th-hour attempt to postpone the mass resignation of the state’s psychiatrists by asking the Industrial Relations Commission to urgently intervene.

With one in three psychiatrist positions in the state already vacant, psychiatrists have been in negotiations with the government for more than 16 months on how to solve the workforce crisis, arguing higher salaries were needed to attract new doctors and retain those currently working in the public system.

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‘We’ll be strong for our girl’: mother of Queensland woman allegedly set on fire in murder attempt speaks out

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Renata Edward Manning has been accused of attempting to kill Destiny Otton-Rakuraku and assaulting another woman

The family and friends of a woman allegedly set on fire by a man accused of trying to murder her say they have been left numb and traumatised.

Destiny Otton-Rakuraku, a 34-year-old support worker and mother-of-two, remains in hospital with serious injuries after the alleged attack on Saturday.

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South Australia proposes law for bigger garages to stop street parking being ‘overrun’ with SUVs

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Plan sparks debate about use of urban space, housing costs and investment in public transport amid climate crisis

South Australia is proposing laws that will force developers to build bigger garages in new homes, in an effort to stop cars too big for standard off-street parking from crowding suburban streets.

Under the plan, which is still in the consultation process, residential car park sizes will have to be half a metre wider and 60cm longer to accommodate big cars and dual-cab utes. The size of a single car park, under the proposed changes, would be 3.5m wide and 6m long.

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Motorists able to lock in low petrol prices for 24 hours under Victoria’s new ‘fair fuel’ plan

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State government will force 1,500 petrol stations to report fuel prices a day in advance under ‘cost-of-living shake-up’

Petrol stations in Victoria will be forced to publicly report their fuel prices a day before they come into effect, with motorists then able to lock them in for 24 hours, under a “cost-of-living shake-up” announced by the state government.

The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, on Monday announced her “fair fuel-price plan” in Werribee, in Melbourne’s outer west, ahead of a crucial byelection in the area next month.

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Smelters will close without green aluminium funding, Albanese warns as Dutton labels $2bn pledge a ‘con job’

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Federal government aims to encourage power-intensive producers to switch to renewables by 2036

Anthony Albanese says smelters will close and cost many jobs without their newly announced aluminium production incentive, which opposition leader Peter Dutton has labelled a “con job”.

The mining industry welcomed $2bn in federal funding to incentivise power-intensive aluminium producers to switch to renewables by 2036, with Rio Tinto calling it a “critical piece in helping future-proof the industry”.

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Reporter leaves Nine after reaching confidential settlement – as it happened

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Lambie says Labor doing ‘a fair bit of clean up’ from nine years of Coalition

Asked about polling showing Peter Dutton had drawn level to Anthony Albanese as preferred PM, and whether this could be attributed to Dutton’s stance on law and order, Jacqui Lambie responded:

It hasn’t got any worse or better, I can assure you. You didn’t get much out of him after nine years, but if people want to fall back into that and go, well, you know, Labor’s had three years and that’s all we’re going to give them, and you want to go back to the good old days – which I wouldn’t say were the good old days under the Liberal National party – then be my guest.

It’s not just about the last three years in government, it’s probably about the last 10. So have a look at who had control of that for nine years beforehand.

Because quite frankly, I think Labor’s doing a fair bit of clean up. Labor’s also put a lot of things in which you will not see coming to fruition until the next three years.

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Two teenagers die after Sunshine Coast waterfall accident and failed rescue attempt

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Seventeen-year-old girl fell off waterfall at Queensland’s Wappa Falls and 17-year-old boy died after jumping in to help her

Two teenagers have died after an accident at a waterfall on the Sunshine Coast.

A 17-year-old girl fell off a waterfall at Queensland’s Wappa Falls about 2.30pm on Sunday and a 17-year-old boy jumped into the water to help her when she did not resurface, emergency services said.

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Victorian RSL clubs spent only 1.5% of pokies revenue on veteran welfare, study finds

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Financial analysis shows clubs took $2.1bn in gambling revenue over 10-year period but spent 12 times more on business expenses than support programs

Only 1.5% of the money lost by gamblers in poker machines in Victorian RSLs over several years went towards improving veteran welfare, new research shows.

The study, published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, analysed records submitted to the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission over a 10-year period.

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Australia grants nearly 1,000 humanitarian visas in three months to those fleeing Israel-Hamas conflict

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Figures reveal number of beneficiaries of temporary three-year visa since it was introduced by Labor in October

Almost 1,000 Palestinian and Israeli nationals have been offered temporary humanitarian visas in Australia since last October, new data shows, as the six-week ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza begins.

The humanitarian pathway for those affected by the conflict was introduced in October 2024 for the more than 1,300 Palestinians in Australia on visitor visas but prevents them from applying for permanent protection.

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Services Australia chasing billions in unpaid debt – including some which may have been unlawfully calculated

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Agency pursuing $4.9bn in unpaid debts, including some potentially calculated with controversial method, question to parliament reveals

Services Australia is chasing billions of dollars in decades-old debt, it has been revealed, some of which may have been incorrectly calculated.

Data released under questions on notice shows that, as at the end of October last year, Services Australia was pursuing $4.9bn in unpaid debts from 829,266 customers. The oldest debt dates back to 1979, with thousands from the 1990s.

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Thousands of imports enter Australia from firms blacklisted by US over alleged Uyghur forced labour links

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Exclusive: Imports of a range of products, including parts for Sydney Metro vehicles, increase despite US bans on dozens of companies

Australia is allowing thousands of imports from Chinese companies blacklisted by the US over alleged links to forced Uyghur labour, including a supplier of parts to Sydney Metro vehicles, government documents have revealed.

In 2021 the Biden administration passed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, and from the following year began outlawing imports from dozens of companies, seizing shipments at the border and releasing a public blacklist of the companies, mostly operating in Xinjiang.

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Baby dead and five injured in horrific house fire in Tasmania

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Firefighters pulled a child and adult from the Rokeby home on Sunday morning but were unable to reach the infant in time

A infant has been killed and four children and an adult injured in a horrific house fire in Tasmania on Sunday morning.

Police and emergency services responded to reports of a fire at Rokeby shortly before 9am.

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Man charged with attempted murder after allegedly setting woman on fire at home south of Brisbane

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Premier says alleged Kingston domestic violence incident has ‘rocked’ Queensland as woman, 34, remains in hospital

A Queensland man has been charged with attempted murder for allegedly setting fire to a woman in a horrific act of domestic violence in a home south of Brisbane.

After being treated by paramedics at the scene in the Logan suburb of Kingston on Saturday morning, the 34-year-old woman was rushed to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s hospital in a serious condition. Police say she sustained serious burns.

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‘Net zero hero’ myth unfairly shifts burden of solving climate crisis on to individuals, study finds

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Shifting responsibility to consumers minimises the role of energy industry and policymakers, University of Sydney research suggests

It’s not unusual to see individuals championed as heroes of climate action, with their efforts to install rooftop solar and buy electric cars promoted as pivotal in the fight to save the planet.

Hero figures can motivate others to follow suit, but a University of Sydney study suggests the way the energy sector shapes this narrative sets individuals up to fail.

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Wild NSW weather expected to ease as WA’s Pilbara region braces for cyclone

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Cleanup continues in parts of NSW as tropical low threatens heavy rain between Port Hedland and Ningaloo

The skies above New South Wales are expected to clear this week, bringing relief to thousands who have been left sitting in the dark as massive storms swept the state and knocked power offline.

The Bureau of Meteorology forecast for the NSW capital and parts of the state suggests calmer skies in the week ahead, with light winds and a chance of a thunderstorm over Sydney on Tuesday.

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Mined diamonds are a waste of money, an expert says. Here’s why

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Lab-grown diamonds sell for one-quarter of the price of traditional ones and an Australian wholesale broker says he can’t tell the difference

When Steve Richards, a gemologist trained to identify grades of precious jewels, was considering a Christmas present for his wife, he settled on a pair of diamond earrings.

These diamonds, however, were not formed deep in the Earth over millions or billions of years and brought to the surface through volcanic eruptions. They were grown in a lab over a matter of weeks and bought for a fraction of the price.

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Can Australia’s political centre hold off the populist embers being set ablaze by Trump?

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Donald Trump is unlike any politician Australia has ever seen. But could a demagogue in his image emerge?

At midday on Monday in Washington DC, Donald J Trump will finish the oath of office committing to “preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the United States”. His political resurrection will be complete.

The paradox of his promise to defend the constitution will be starkly apparent.

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