Rainfall is expected to fall on Saturday either side of the border after a torrid week of fires claimed more than 60 homes
Communities across Australia’s east coast are hoping a wet weekend will bring a reprieve to firefighters as rainfall starts to set in across New South Wales and Queensland.
But the bushfire threat has arisen in the west as parts of Western Australia experience extreme fire risk with threats to properties south of Perth.
Continue reading...Homicide squad detectives have charged a 42-year-old man with murder after a woman in her 30s was found dead
A man has been charged with murder over the death of a woman whose body was found in a luxury hotel room in Perth’s casino precinct.
Emergency services were called to Crown Towers east of the Perth CBD about 11am on Monday, where the woman in her 30s was found dead.
Continue reading...WA Corruption and Crime Commission report finds Cameron Blaine shared sensitive case details with 22-year-old woman
One of the detectives who rescued kidnapped girl Cleo Smith leaked sensitive information about the case to a young journalist he was in a relationship with, a corruption watchdog has found.
Former Det Snr Sgt Cameron Blaine was among the officers who found the four-year-old at abductor Terence Kelly’s home in northern Western Australia on 3 November 2021.
Continue reading...Australians are grieving for those killed on both sides of Israel-Hamas war, Adam Bandt tells protesters
About 15,000 people have attended a rally supporting Palestine in Melbourne, with the Greens leader, Adam Bandt, telling the crowd they were mourning for those who had died on both sides of the bloody conflict.
Sunday’s protest was one of several held across the country at the weekend. Victoria police said that there were “no major incidents of note”.
Continue reading...Protesters marched through the Sydney CBD on Saturday after police green-lit the event, with similar rallies held in Perth, Hobart and Brisbane
Pro-Palestine protesters declared they were standing on the right side of history, marching for justice and humanity, as they turned out in their thousands at rallies across Australia on Saturday.
Thousands marched through the Sydney CBD on Saturday after police green-lit the event, with rallies also held in Perth, Hobart and Brisbane as more information emerges from conflict-stricken Gaza.
Continue reading...Treasurer Tim Pallas says refunds being considered after high court ruled charge was unconstitutional
Labor governments in three states are pressing the commonwealth to consider national road-user charging, after the high court struck down Victoria’s electric vehicle tax.
On Thursday the Victorian treasurer, Tim Pallas, said the government will consider refunding a tax paid by electric vehicle owners after the high court deemed it invalid, but suggests registration costs could rise or a national levy could be implemented in its place.
Continue reading...Carmen Lawrence says former premier’s behaviour, if true, is ‘certainly improper’ and ‘ethically questionable’ and shows power of oil and gas interests
Claims that the former Western Australia premier Mark McGowan directly put pressure on the independent Environmental Protection Authority to withdraw climate guidelines opposed by gas companies are evidence of the fossil fuel industry’s “ownership” of the state, senior figures say.
Carmen Lawrence, another former Labor premier, said McGowan’s alleged behaviour four years ago, if true, was “certainly improper”, “ethically questionable” and “illustrated the power that fossil fuels have to influence the government” in the state.
Continue reading...An Australian take on how the emu won the 1932 battle premieres this month, before shooting on the UK comedian’s film has begun
A troupe of Australian comedians appears to have gazumped John Cleese to bring the bizarre story of the great emu war to the big screen.
In 1932, soldiers armed with machine guns were deployed in Western Australia to battle huge flocks of the giant native birds. Their annual migration from the arid interior to the coast had increasingly met the rapidly expanding wheat belt, to the delight of the emus and the horror of the farmers.
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Continue reading...Civil society groups call on broadcaster not to comply with order they say is an ‘alarming overreach’ and ‘undermines press freedom’
Civil society groups have accused Western Australia police of undermining press freedom by demanding the ABC hand over Four Corners footage of climate protesters, and urged the broadcaster to protect its journalists’ sources.
In response to the police demand the ABC’s managing director, David Anderson, has said the broadcaster would never reveal its sources, but he did not rule out handing over the vision.
Continue reading...Developers say South Perth’s C6 building will be made up of 42% timber and be carbon negative
Western Australia is set to become home to the world’s tallest timber building, a “revolutionary” 50-storey hybrid design reaching a height of 191.2 metres.
Timber will make up 42% of South Perth’s C6 building, including the tower’s beams, floor panels, studs, joinery and linings.
Continue reading...Facebook owner issues summons to demand files as it prepares defence over accusations it allowed bogus ads to use billionaire’s image
Facebook’s parent company Meta has issued a summons for billionaire Andrew Forrest to hand over sensitive documents amid a legal battle over an alleged cryptocurrency clickbait advertising scam.
Lawyers for the tech giant took the unusual step of issuing a summons to demand 20 categories of documents, alleging the mining magnate’s lawyers had failed to hand over papers relevant to the legal battle.
Continue reading...Early polling locations open in Victoria, Tasmania, WA and NT with other states to follow on Tuesday
Campaigners for both sides of the Indigenous voice referendum have hit the hustings as early voting opens across the country.
The yes and no campaigns have less than two weeks to make their case over whether to enshrine an Indigenous advisory body in the constitution.
Continue reading...At 2am on Sunday the clocks roll forward an hour in NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and the ACT. So why aren’t Queensland, WA and the NT onboard?
Depending on who you ask, it’s either the most wonderful time of the year or the bane of their existence.
As most Australians sleep through Saturday night and into Sunday morning, time will skip ahead one hour – but only in some states and territories.
Continue reading...Industrial action could affect more than 50 flights including routes from Perth to regional towns and mine sites
Qantas pilots who operate passenger, charter and fly-in-fly-out (Fifo) services in Western Australia will stop work for 24 hours next week, as workers negotiating a new pay deal complain of wages “significantly lower” compared to other airlines.
The Australian Federation of Air Pilots (Afap), which represents pilots employed by Network Aviation – a subsidiary of Qantas Group which operates Qantas Link, Fifo and charter services for the airline in Western Australia – said it notified Qantas management on Thursday afternoon about the stop work action.
Continue reading...Exclusive: More than 740 First Nations people, the majority of them very young, are believed to have been buried with no record at Moore River, Carrolup and New Norcia
As many as 400 Aboriginal children and babies are likely to have been buried in unmarked graves at three former Western Australian missions, the vast majority of them interred after dying when five or under, a Guardian Australia investigation can reveal.
Spanning decades, more than 740 First Nations people, the majority of them very young, were most likely buried with no record at just three church and government-run missions in the state: Moore River, Carrolup and New Norcia.
Continue reading...Indonesia imposes strict testing conditions on cattle from three major export ports after claiming infectious disease detected in eight cattle
The Australian government has denied suggestions that a highly infectious livestock disease has been detected in the country, after the Indonesian government moved to block live exports of cattle from northern Australia.
On Sunday, Indonesian officials notified their Australian counterparts they had detected eight cases of lumpy skin disease in cattle imported from Australia.
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Continue reading...Fossil fuel company denies orders granted after incident at CEO’s home are intended to prevent campaigners from speaking out
Four activists have been hit with violence restraining orders that their lawyer says prevents them from making any public reference to Woodside’s CEO and effectively stops them from speaking out about the company.
The interim court orders were issued to activists charged in relation to an incident at the home of Meg O’Neill and “were sought to protect Ms O’Neill’s family’s safety”, a Woodside spokesperson confirmed.
Continue reading...James Hayward, 53, has pleaded not guilty to the abuse of an eight-year-old girl
A Western Australian MP on trial for child sexual abuse admitted the crimes in an email to his wife before he was charged, a court has been told.
James Dorrin Hayward has pleaded not guilty to four offences relating to the alleged abuse of an eight-year-old girl.
Continue reading...After seeing off a bid to explore near the Bodhinyana monastery, the forest monks are encouraging others to ‘keep the pressure on’
Buddhist monks who have sought enlightenment in a globally unique forest in Western Australia are standing defiant after fighting off an attempt to explore their area for minerals.
Conservationists say the northern Jarrah forest in the state’s south-west, already under pressure from climate change, is the target of several mining companies looking to explore for minerals needed for the clean energy transition.
Continue reading...Traditional owner alleges company failed to adequately consult on effect of Scarborough project blasting on sea country
A traditional owner has filed a legal challenge to the approval of seismic blasting for Woodside’s Scarborough offshore gas project in Western Australia.
Mardudhunera woman Raelene Cooper is seeking a judicial review of the offshore petroleum regulator Nopsema’s decision to grant the approval despite concerns consultation with traditional owners had been inadequate.
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