US investigating source of what appear to be classified documents circulating on social media. This blog is now closed
Medico fights for life after Tasmanian hospital attack
A youth has been arrested after a medical professional was critically injured at a Tasmanian hospital, AAP reports.
Continue reading...Judge acknowledges turbulent upbringing of man who pleaded guilty to abducting four-year-old from family tent in 2021
Terence Darrell Kelly, 37, the man who abducted four-year-old Cleo Smith from her family’s tent at a remote Western Australian campsite, has been sentenced to 13 years and six months in jail.
Kelly pleaded guilty in January 2022 to the single charge of abducting Cleo, and will have to spend at least 11 years and six months in prison before he is eligible for parole.
Continue reading...Melbourne forecast to reach 37C while northern regions of the state could exceed 40C. This blog is now closed
Federal government welcomes decision to hear MH17 case
The federal government has welcomed the International Civil Aviation Organization Council’s decision to hear Australia and the Netherlands’ case against Russia for the downing of flight MH17.
We have maintained since May 2018 that the Russian Federation is responsible under international law for the downing of Flight MH17.
We now look forward to presenting our legal arguments and evidence to the ICAO Council as we continue to seek to hold Russia to account.
Continue reading...Officers duped the alleged criminals into believing they had gotten away with the import, police say
A covert police operation has foiled a billion dollars worth of cocaine entering Western Australia, with officers duping the alleged criminals into believing they had gotten away with the import.
Operation Beech kicked off in November after Drug Enforcement Administration agents seized a record 2.4 tonnes of cocaine allegedly bound for Australia off the South American coast.
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Continue reading...Aishwarya Aswath died on Easter Saturday 2021, hours after presenting to an emergency department with a fever and unusually cold hands
Perth hospital staff missed the signs a seven-year-old girl was dying of sepsis because of the pressures caused by “inadequate” staffing, a coroner has found.
Aishwarya Aswath died on Easter Saturday 2021, hours after presenting to the Perth Children’s Hospital emergency department with a fever and unusually cold hands.
Continue reading...Extreme conditions in the north of the state with Victoria, NSW and Queensland also experiencing high temperatures
Large swathes of Australia sweltered amid a heatwave on Friday, including in the Pilbara, where temperatures reached 45C.
Sumaoa Bayliss, the manager at the Red Sands Tavern in the northern Western Australian town of Newman – where it reached 44C – said life goes on in the dangerous conditions, albeit under air conditioning.
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Continue reading...Authorities are requesting public assistance to locate the three men who told authorities their boat capsized while fishing
Three men are being sought after police found about 365kg of cocaine off Western Australia’s south coast.
The men were found clinging to an esky in the ocean off Albany on 1 February, telling authorities their boat had capsized while they were fishing.
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Continue reading...Joana Partyka admitted painting company logo on to the masterpiece Down on His Luck in protest at Burrup Peninsula development
A woman who defaced one of Australia’s most famous paintings in a protest against a gas company’s alleged destruction of Western Australia rock art has faced court.
Joana Veronika Partyka, 37, pleaded guilty on Friday to criminal damage after she spray-painted a Woodside Energy logo onto Frederick McCubbin’s work Down on His Luck at the Art Gallery of WA.
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Continue reading...Investigators to examine wreckage and interview two pilots who were responding to a bushfire in the Fitzgerald River national park
Two pilots battling a blaze on Western Australia’s southern coast have managed to free themselves after their Boeing 737 firebomber aircraft crashed.
The national large air tanker crashed at 4.15pm on Monday afternoon while responding to a bushfire in the Fitzgerald River national park, Western Australia’s Department of Fire and Emergency Services (Dfes) said.
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Continue reading...Experts urge swimmers to be cautious as more sharks are in the local estuaries at this time of year
Marine experts have warned more sharks will be swimming in estuaries at this time of year after a 16-year-old girl was killed in an attack in Perth’s Swan River.
The girl, identified as Stella Berry, was pulled from the water on Saturday afternoon with critical injuries, understood to have been to her legs, but despite the efforts of paramedics she died at the scene.
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Continue reading...Australian police say 16-year-old jumped from her jetski to swim after possible dolphin sighting nearby
A teenage girl has been killed in a suspected shark attack in Western Australia after she jumped from her jetski into a river, police said.
The 16-year-old was pulled from the Swan River in Perth with critical injuries. Emergency personnel provided medical assistance at the scene but she died, said Insp Paul Robinson, of Western Australia police.
Continue reading...Coin-sized radioactive device, missing for more than two weeks in WA, posed a significant public health risk
A tiny radioactive capsule that was lost in the Australian outback for more than two weeks and posed a “significant public health risk” has been found by the side of the road.
The 8mm by 6mm capsule, which fell from a secure device on a truck that was travelling from a Rio Tinto mine site in the Pilbara region of Western Australia to Perth, was found south of the town of Newman.
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Continue reading...Follow the day’s news live
The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, also spoke to ABC Radio this morning about how the government is balancing the budget with record high inflation, and all signs pointing to another rate hike from the RBA next week.
Gallagher says there will be mortgage pain for over a fifth of mortgage holders:
We’re expecting about 20% of mortgage holders to come off fixed rate loans this year.
We always said 2023 was going to be challenging year … Dealing with the inflation challenge is a key economic priority for the government.
What you’ll see is a continued focus on cost-of-living relief, funding those priority areas like health and aged care and making sure we’re getting the balance right in terms of spending restraint, banking upgrades and looking for sensible savings where we can.
There’s no doubt that migrants have been key to the formation of modern Australia.
I think [migrants] should be recognised for their contribution to this country. And I think that’s fair enough, but that’s not minimising the Indigenous.
Continue reading...Authorities have conceded the capsule of highly radioactive material may never be found after disappearing on a 1,400km journey
A tiny, potentially deadly, radioactive capsule that has been missing for more than two weeks somewhere in the vastness of Western Australia might never be found, authorities have conceded.
On Sunday, Western Australia’s Department of Fire and Emergency Services (Dfes) revealed it was bringing in new radiation detection equipment that could be fitted to vehicles – superseding handheld sensors – to help locate the capsule somewhere along the 1,400km journey from which it originally disappeared.
Continue reading...Fire and Emergency Services official says capsule left Rio Tinto mine site on 10 January but was not found missing for 15 days
Western Australian authorities are scrambling to find a missing radioactive capsule that is a fraction of the size of a 10c coin, conceding it was not found missing until more than two weeks after it left a Rio Tinto mine site.
The 8mm by 6mm capsule is a 19-becquerel caesium 137 ceramic source, commonly used in radiation gauges, and was supposed to be contained in a secure device which had been “damaged” on a truck which travelled from the mine site north of Newman in the Pilbara to a depot in Perth.
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Continue reading...Perrottet promises easier access to housing for domestic violence victims
NSW domestic violence victims will have easier access to housing through concessions on stamp duty and rental bond loans if the Perrottet government is re-elected, AAP reports.
Continue reading...Hazardous material experts searching for 8mm by 6mm capsule believed to have fallen from truck as it was travelling from Pilbara to Perth
A tiny radioactive capsule with the potential to cause skin burns has gone missing as it was transported from a mine in Western Australia.
Hazardous material experts are searching for the 8mm by 6mm capsule, which is believed to have fallen from a truck as it was travelling the 1,400km between a mine site north of Newman in the Pilbara and a depot in Perth.
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Continue reading...Lawyers for the Liberal senator threaten to take case to WA supreme court as they pursue an apology and damages over tweets
The Liberal senator Linda Reynolds has sent a formal defamation complaint to David Sharaz, the partner of former government staffer Brittany Higgins, over tweets her lawyers claim caused damage that “cannot be underestimated”.
Lawyers for the Reynolds have threatened to take the case to Western Australia’s supreme court as they pursue an apology and damages from the journalist, claiming he made “inaccurate and professionally damaging” criticisms of her online.
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Should governments have acted sooner on alcohol restrictions in Alice Springs?
The Northern Territory chief minister Natasha Fyles and the minister for Indigenous affairs Linda Burney have appeared on ABC Radio after the announcements in Alice Springs yesterday.
It was the previous coalition government that walked away and left the Northern Territory with no measures.
I had expressed that there needs to be some very, very real thoughts put into our alcohol restrictions.
Do you think it took too long?
Look, I’m not going to get into whether they’ve taken too long, If you ask the people in Alice Springs, the answer might be yes.
I went to Stuart Park last night and met with local people living in town camps ... many of who had obviously experienced violence. And one of the things that really shocked me is, I was talking to the local member Marion Scrymgour who had visited the hospital and there are 16 beds in ICU, 14 of those were taken by Aboriginal women who had been beaten ... I think alcohol is one of the major contributors to some of the problems.
It’s about balance – but being able to drink is not more important than being safe, in my view.
Continue reading...Prime minister holds talks with Microsoft founder on climate change, energy and health. This blog is now closed
AAP reports that NSW Labor says it will consult on a treaty with the state’s Aboriginal communities if it wins the state election in March.
The party would spend $5m on a year-long consultation process as part of a move towards a more formal treaty process.
If we want to realise improved justice, education, health and cultural outcomes for First Nations people, we must place First Nations communities at the centre of decision making.
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