Category Archives: Western Australia

NSW Port Authority warned in January of ‘gaping hole’ in coronavirus biosecurity checks

Posted on by

Maritime union said the requirement for ships to ‘self-declare’ illness was ‘woefully inadequate’ 50 days before Ruby Princess allowed to offload sick passengers in Sydney

The New South Wales Port Authority ignored warnings in January of the need for tighter biosecurity checks, the Maritime Union of Australia says.

In an email seen by Guardian Australia, MUA secretary Paul Garrett warned the NSW Port Authority chief executive, Philip Holliday, that ship captains could not be relied upon to self-disclose illnesses on board.

Continue reading...

Downfall: BP worker sacked over Hitler parody wins his job back

Posted on by

Fair Work Commission finds oil refinery technician was not comparing his bosses to Hitler when he posted Downfall meme

An oil refinery worker who was sacked for creating a Downfall parody of his bosses has had his job reinstated, after the Fair Work Commission ruled the “memetic context” of the video meant it was unreasonable to find he was comparing them to Nazis.

The worker, a technician on a BP refinery in Western Australia, was originally sacked after he used an oft-parodied scene from the 2004 film by Oliver Hirschbiegel about the final days of Hitler and Nazi Germany to depict his bosses during a tense wage negotiation.

Continue reading...

WA churches with Liberal links win grants of almost $40,000 in four months

Posted on by

Churches win funding through program that allocates grants only to organisations formally invited by local federal MP

A cluster of evangelical churches with strong links to West Australian Liberals have won almost $40,000 in grants in the past four months through a federal scheme.

Related: Sports rorts inquiry set to grill Bridget McKenzie and Phil Gaetjens

Continue reading...

WA RSL drops ‘offensive’ ban on Welcome to Country and Aboriginal flag at Anzac Day ceremonies

Posted on by

WA Indigenous affairs minister Ben Wyatt said decision was ‘regrettable’ and Greens senator Rachel Siewert called it ‘hurtful’

The Western Australian branch of the RSL has withdrawn its ban on the performance of Welcome to Country ceremonies and the flying of the Aboriginal flag at all of its Anzac and Remembrance Day services.

In a statement issued on Friday afternoon, RSLWA had said that while it supported the right to fly the Indigenous flag and make a Welcome to Country dedication at official ceremonies, “What RSL is not supportive of is the use of Welcome to Country as part of the actual service itself in terms of the Dawn Service of ANZAC Day and the 11am Service at Remembrance Day”.

Continue reading...

NSW and Queensland weather: flash floods and fallen trees as rain lashes east coast – latest updates

Posted on by

Sydney and the New South Wales Central Coast are set to receive more rainfall in 24 hours than they have since 1998. Follow the latest

• NSW weather: six families rescued from floodwaters as rain lashes east coast

Commiserations with Canberra and other parts of the east coast that have missed this rain.

Rain: the ONE type of weather #Canberra actually wants this summer, and apparently THE ONLY TYPE we won't get. pic.twitter.com/n7ftT8CNgi

Sydney is not the only place that’s flooded.

Awabakal Nation/Lake Macquarie pic.twitter.com/S5LVHa1PBp

Plenty of locals stopping to have a look at the flooded Hanlon Park in Stones Corner @abcbrisbane pic.twitter.com/Aawo9orQw5

Rains in Sydney#sydneyrain #sydneystorm #parramatta pic.twitter.com/3yTHtSgFaA

Continue reading...

Jacqui Lambie says people scared and confused by Coalition’s cashless welfare card plan

Posted on by

Senator says after visiting remote Indigenous communities that many there feel they have not been properly consulted over new card

Independent senator Jacquie Lambie says “the government has a problem” with the rollout of its controversial cashless debit card, after her fact-finding visit to the Northern Territory and Western Australia.

Lambie visited several remote Aboriginal communities to “get a view from the ground on how the card is functioning, before voting on the government’s proposed changes for its future”, she said. Most of the people she spoke to “didn’t know any change was being proposed at all”.

Continue reading...

A billion animals: the Australian species most at risk from the bushfire crisis

Posted on by

Fires take an enormous toll on wildlife, with huge numbers of mammals, birds, reptiles and insects killed

Australia’s continuing bushfire crisis has taken an enormous toll on wildlife, with huge numbers of mammals, birds, reptiles, insects and other species killed.

The ecologist Chris Dickman has estimated more than a billion animals have died around the country – a figure that excludes fish, frogs, bats and insects.

Continue reading...

Blazes flare amid extreme conditions in Australia – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed. Our live coverage will continue tomorrow morning

We are wrapping up the live blog now, but we will be back at 7am AEDT for the latest on the fires.

As of 9pm, this is what we know.

There’s now what media (but not RFS) refer to as a megablaze in the Kosciuszko national park with three fires at emergency level in that area of southern NSW, just near the Victorian border.

There’s also concern that a fire at watch-and-act level in Faulconbridge in the Blue Mountains could worsen around midnight once the southerly reaches there. People in the Wentworth Falls and Leura areas are being advised to stay alert.

Continue reading...

Australian bushfires: the story so far in each state

Posted on by

Bushfires have burned 4m hectares and left nine people dead, and fire authorities say they ‘haven’t seen a season like it’

More than four million hectares of Australia have burned and nine people have died since September in an “unprecedented” start to the summer fire season.

Guardian Australia spoke to fire authorities in every state about what they expect to happen next.

Continue reading...

Australia fires: weather bureau says Tuesday was nation’s hottest day on record – live

Posted on by

BoM data says Tuesday’s 40.9C was the hottest average maximum across the whole country ever recorded, as extreme heat moves across South Australia to Melbourne, Victoria and Sydney, NSW, and bushfires continued. This blog is now closed

It is still unpleasantly warm here in Melbourne, and across much of southern Australia east of the Nullarbor. Fire activity is predicted to increase tomorrow and on Friday.

Here is a roundup of where things stand:

As of Wednesday afternoon there were about 70 bushfires burning across Queensland.

Continue reading...

WA, NSW and Qld bushfires: properties lost in Gospers Mountain fire – as it happened

Posted on by

Up to 20 properties lost in Blue Mountains as megafire burns outside Sydney, while fires also threaten communities in Western Australia and Queensland

About 2,000 firefighters are currently fighting more 108 active bushfires in NSW.

The RFS have issued a new emergency warning for areas near Muswellbrook.

EMERGENCY WARNING - Kerry Ridge fire (Muswellbrook, Singleton and Mid-Western LGA)
Fire activity increasing. If you are in the area of Olinda, Nullo Mountain and Bogee, watch out for embers that may start fires ahead of the main fire front. #nswrfs #nswfires #alert pic.twitter.com/6UEV0imNRS

Continue reading...

Western Australia bushfire out of control as temperatures expected to surge above 40C

Posted on by

NSW firefighters upgrade Gospers Mountain blaze to emergency as police launch investigation into fires in regional Victoria

An out-of-control bushfire has burnt through more than 11,000 hectares of land north of Perth with residents urged to leave while they still can.

It comes as New South Wales firefighters upgraded the Gospers Mountain blaze to an emergency on Saturday afternoon, and police launched an investigation into a spate of fires in regional Victoria.

Continue reading...

NSW fires: five bushfires merge north of Sydney – as it happened

Posted on by

Gospers Mountain, Paddock Run and Little L Complex, Three Mile and Thompson Creek fires overlap, and there are now seven emergency warnings in NSW as fire conditions worsen along Australia’s New South Wales and Queensland coasts. This blog is now closed

We are going to wrap the live blog up here. As of almost 7.30pm AEDT there are still seven fires at emergency warning level across NSW.

They are:

Related: Australia fires: five blazes merge north of Sydney as conditions forecast to worsen

Some more photos from photographer Matthew Abbott out at Kulnura:

Continue reading...

Frustrating cities: behind Australia’s urban design fails

Posted on by

Sydney’s pedestrian bottlenecks, Brisbane’s barren streetscapes and Perth’s freeway fiascos: cities across the country are making classic mistakes

In every city there are places where the road should be just a bit wider, where the bus stop would be better a few metres down or, perhaps, a multi-lane highway simply should not exist.

Bad urban design is a barrier to what should be the smooth flow of life in cities. It ruins commutes and can make daily life unnecessarily difficult for the disabled or elderly.

Continue reading...

NSW and Queensland fires updates: worst of bushfires season ‘still ahead’, says fire chief – live

Posted on by

Catastrophic fire conditions in New South Wales ease, but dozens of Australian bushfires remain burning. In Queensland, 60 fires are burning, with strong winds and temperatures in mid-30s forecast to make for hazardous conditions on Australia’s east coast

• Factcheck: are greens really stopping bushfire hazard reduction?

• Open thread: tell us how you’re affected by the fires
• Sydney suburb in the pink after surviving bushfire emergency
• If you are in a bushfire affected area stay tuned to your local emergency broadcaster. Full alerts can be found here for NSW and here for Queensland

Residents of Pechey (near Hampton) have been told to leave now, and head towards the New England highway.

“There is a bushfire in Pechey and Hampton and conditions are getting worse,” QFES says. “A fast moving fire is travelling from Grapetree Road towards Deeth Road, Sewell Road, Parker Road, Bush Road and Misty Mountain Road. It is currently impacting Parker Road and Sewell Road. The fire could have on the significant impact on the community.”

LEAVE NOW: Pechey (near Hampton) bushfire as at 1pm Wed 13 Nov: https://t.co/ZLMRe45vEu

Images of Walkers Point, which is also at “leave now”.

Residents at Walkers Point, south of Bundaberg, are being told to evacuate to Woodgate with firefighters battling a large bushfire @abcnews pic.twitter.com/pffLy1elsV

Continue reading...

Murdoch University sues whistleblower after comments on international students

Posted on by

University also demands names of journalists who spoke to Gerd Schröder-Turk, after comments on Four Corners

Murdoch University is suing an academic whistleblower and demanding the names of journalists he spoke to and the dates of their interactions, court records show.

One of Australia’s leading integrity experts, AJ Brown, says the university’s actions highlight the “huge imbalance” in power between whistleblowers and large employers and shows protections for those who speak out “remain something of a mess”.

Continue reading...

Exiting the cashless welfare card trial is almost impossible, critics say

Posted on by

Government accused of ‘demonising vulnerable people’ after only 100 of the 5,000 people on the program allowed to leave

Only 100 of the more than 5,000 people on the cashless welfare card trial have been allowed off the scheme, and the process for exemption has been labelled humiliating and hard to understand.

The government argues the card, which stores up to 80% of a welfare recipient’s payment for use at selected stores, leads to a reduction in violence and harm related to drinking alcohol, illegal drug use and gambling.

Continue reading...

WA Labor conference: chaos after walkout during Welcome to Country

Posted on by

WA Labor president apologises to Indigenous Australians for walkout by right faction union delegates

Western Australia’s Labor conference has turned chaotic after a large number of delegates walked out during a Welcome to the Country ceremony and tribute to the former Labor prime minister Bob Hawke.

It was reported a large portion of the crowd heckled Perth MP Patrick Gorman and the WA Labor president, Carolyn Smith, before storming out of the complex.

Continue reading...

Farmers jailed in Australia for smuggling Danish pig semen in shampoo bottles

Posted on by

Two men from GD Pork pleaded guilty in WA to breaching biosecurity laws to gain ‘unfair’ breeding advantage

Two pig farmers in Western Australia will be jailed after being convicted of illegally importing Danish pig semen concealed in shampoo bottles.

Torben Soerensen has been sentenced to three years in prison, while Henning Laue faces a two-year sentence after pleading guilty to breaching quarantine and biosecurity laws.

Continue reading...