Category Archives: Tasmania

Sydney bakes in 43C temperatures and heatwave conditions; southerly change expected from 6pm – as it happened

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‘Climate change a threat to people’s health as well as to our environment,’ Albanese says amid heatwave

Speaking at a press conference in Sydney, prime minister Anthony Albanese said the current heatwave is “a reminder that there just might be something in this climate change stuff”.

We have experienced 2023 as the hottest year on record. We continue to break these records, and that’s why my government’s determined to act on climate change.

Today, with the high heat levels, I do say that it’s a time to ensure that we look after each other and stay safe.

We need to have our migration levels brought to a sustainable level and we will be releasing details of that this week.

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Coles, Woolworths and Aldi ‘responsibly sourced’ salmon labels may be misleading, watchdog told

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Environmental groups allege some of the supermarkets’ salmon is from Tasmanian farms reportedly having ‘catastrophic’ impact on ancient Maugean skate

Major supermarkets may be misleading consumers that their salmon products are responsibly sourced as some is produced in Tasmanian farms that are “far from sustainable”, environmental groups say.

The Environmental Defenders Office, acting on behalf of four environmental groups, has made a complaint to the consumer watchdog, urging it to investigate whether “responsibly sourced” labelling on seafood products and promotional material used by Coles, Woolworths and Aldi have broken consumer law by misleading consumers.

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Scores of dead whales found on Tasmanian beach in ‘confronting scenes’

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Cause of mass stranding of 34 pilot whales on Freycinet Peninsula unclear as authorities say they are unable to remove carcasses

Thirty-four whales were found washed up across a beach on Tasmania’s east coast on Tuesday in what was described as a “confronting” and “devastating” scene.

While out training on a boat, local guide Chris Theobald came across an “overnight mass stranding” of more than 30 pilot whales at Bryans beach near the southern end of the Freycinet Peninsula.

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Native forest logging ban in Tasmania could save state $72m, pro-market thinktank says

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Analysis recommends the government stop subsidising its forestry arm and generate carbon credits, a move likely to be opposed by industry and conservationists

Ending native forest logging in Tasmania and valuing the state’s centuries-old trees as carbon storage could save the state at least $72m, according to a report by a pro-market thinktank.

The analysis by the Blueprint Institute, to be launched on Wednesday, recommends the state government immediately stop subsidising its forestry arm, Sustainable Timber Tasmania, and announce logging will end in mid-2025.

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Tasmanian pub posts job ad appealing to ‘alcoholics’ and those with ‘police record’

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Weldborough hotel, ‘desperate’ for staff, is swamped with applicants after unusual advertisement on its Facebook page

A rural pub in Tasmania has turned its struggle to employ staff into satire – and has found itself bombarded with applicants after posting an unusual job ad.

Weldborough hotel, which is based four hours out of Hobart, posted a job listing on its Facebook page. The job ad called for kitchen and front-of-house staff, and noted that it did not matter if applicants had a police record, drug habit or alcoholic problem as the hotel was “desperate”.

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Climate protesters arrested at Port of Newcastle blockade – as it happened

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‘The biggest transformation in our country’s history’

Chris Bowen has been talking about Labor’s plans for reducing emissions, but he’s pressed on the fact that the government has been approving new coalmines and gas projects, which add to global emissions.

The way I see this, David, you can enter into a discussion with your international counterparts which we are doing which is us saying to them, “We will continue to be a reliable energy supplier but we want to work with you on your decarbonisation because we have advantages that you don’t have. We can provide renewable energy.” That is an important conversation to have.

Frankly the approach of others is more a slogan than a policy. We are making the biggest transformation in our country’s history and that involves both domestic policies and strong international engagements, as I will be doing over the next couple of weeks and we have been doing all the way through.

It will be treated in the budget statement of risks and liabilities in the normal fashion. But this is the right policy for the right times to ensure emissions come down and reliability goes up.

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Neil the 600kg seal stops Tasmanian woman going to work after taking nap in front of her car

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Amber Harris woke to the sound of what she thought was somebody breaking into her car but found a tired southern elephant seal

A 600kg seal took a nap in front of a Tasmanian woman’s car, stopping her from going to work on Tuesday.

Amber Harris woke up at 6.20am to the sound of what she thought was “somebody breaking into my car”, she told ABC Hobart.

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Regional roads in dire state as Australian councils made to waste money on grants tribute signs: report

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Grattan Institute says Australia’s regional roads are a ‘dangerous disgrace’ due to paltry federal funding

Regional Australian roads have become a “dangerous disgrace”, according to a new report that warns they will get worse due to paltry funding that favours cities and forces poorer regional councils to waste repair money erecting signs in tribute to government grants.

In a new report, the Grattan Institute has found that roads across the country have become riddled with potholes and other hazards because inadequate federal and state government funding has left councils under-resourced and without sufficient knowledge or data to maintain the roads they are responsible for.

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Imagine more dragons: US biotech firm aims to breed tiny Australian lizard that is near extinction

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Colossal Biosciences, which is behind bid to bring back Tasmanian tiger, teams up with Melbourne Zoo to save tiny reptile

A US biotechnology “de-extinction” company behind efforts to bring the Tasmanian tiger, woolly mammoth and dodo back from the dead is backing a project to save a tiny Australian dragon.

The support from Colossal Biosciences for a project to restore the Victorian grassland earless dragon – which was feared extinct before being rediscovered in the wild this year – was announced as the company’s representatives visited Tasmania to speak with officials about their plans and inspect a potential thylacine rewilding site.

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Thousands attend pro-Palestine protests across Australia

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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.

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Man killed and woman seriously injured in dog attack in Tasmanian home

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Council officers who attended the scene were shaken by what they encountered after a man, 66, was pronounced dead at an Allens Rivulet property on Sunday

A police investigation is under way after a pet dog killed its owner and left another in a serious condition at a rural property in southern Tasmania.

Neighbours raised the alarm after hearing cries for help at 10.40pm on Sunday.

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Indigenous Australians split over voice vote despite memory of colonial horror

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But memories of colonial project to wipe out Tasmania’s natives boost yes campaign on island

Patsy Cameron stands in her dining room in Tomahawk – a small fishing village on the north-east coast of Tasmania, Australia. She tells a story – a few decades old – of how she boarded a plane back from Darwin, her hands full of cultural objects she had bought. The man next to her turned and said: “They should have shot them all like they did to the Tasmanians.” She started crying. He responded by offering her a piece of cake, and an apology.

Behind her is a cabinet full of shell necklaces and drawings of her ancestors. The home she shares with her husband, Graham, is filled with cultural artefacts that the historian learned to make by reading diaries and anthologies of colonisers. Piece by piece she has put history back together. Piece by piece she is reviving her culture.

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Confused cows and more time after work: the pros and cons of daylight saving across Australia

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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.

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Clive Palmer to launch million-dollar ad blitz for no vote in voice referendum

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United Australia party leader to especially target South Australia and Tasmania in reported $2m national campaign over fortnight up to 14 October poll

The campaign against the voice will be supported by millions of dollars from mining magnate Clive Palmer, who will reportedly launch an ad blitz against the referendum in the final fortnight.

Both the yes and no campaigns are preparing for a final sprint to the 14 October polling day, with major ad buys to target key states in the referendum.

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Voice referendum battlegrounds: digital ad spending surges in South Australia and Tasmania

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Yes and no camps have both honed in on two states considered to be critical to outcome, Facebook advertising data shows

Spending on digital advertising for the Indigenous voice to parliament referendum has surged in the key battleground states of Tasmania and South Australia, a Guardian Australia investigation shows.

An analysis of Facebook ad spending by prominent pages supporting the yes and no campaigns show that, adjusted for population, both groups are heavily focused on Tasmania and South Australia.

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Unesco removes ‘hurtful’ document claiming Tasmanian Aboriginal people ‘extinct’

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Inaccurate statement by the International Union for Conservation of Nature made as part of the 1982 process for world heritage status for Tasmanian wilderness area

A UN agency was forced to remove a “hurtful” document that for more than 40 years publicly claimed Tasmanian Aboriginal people were extinct.

The inaccurate claim, stating that “Tasmanians are now an extinct race of humans”, was made as part of the nomination process for the declaration of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area and its addition to the world heritage list in 1982.

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Future uncertain for key Tasmania to mainland power transmission link after $2bn cost blowout

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Federal government in discussion with states after cost of Marinus Link nearly doubles, putting decarbonisation and energy goals at risk

Tasmania is optimistic the Albanese government will lift funding for a key new transmission link to the mainland after projected costs blew out by at least $2bn.

The Marinus Link was originally priced at $3bn in 2021 for its two-stage construction of separate cables across the Bass Strait, each with 750 megawatt capacity.

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Global calls to revoke ‘misleading’ sustainable farming certification for salmon in Tasmania’s Macquarie Harbour

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Letters sent to two accreditation schemes say pollution is contributing to the extinction of a critically endangered fish species

More than 80 organisations around the globe have called for two international accreditation schemes to revoke sustainability certifications for salmon and trout farmed in Tasmania’s Macquarie Harbour, with letters labelling the certification “misleading”.

The letters to the Best Aquaculture Practices (Bap) and GlobalG.A.P schemes come as federal and state government workshops are held in Hobart to determine what urgent action is necessary to prevent the extinction of the critically endangered Maugean skate, an ancient fish species found only in Macquarie Harbour on Tasmania’s west coast.

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Celine Cremer: waterfall and river to be searched for missing Belgian tourist in Tasmania

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Police say swift water will be examined on Tuesday ‘before we begin to scale back the search’

Police will search waterways as they continue looking for the Belgian tourist Celine Cremer, who has been missing for two weeks in remote Tasmanian wilderness.

Officers say they will examine the Philosopher Falls area more closely on Tuesday before scaling back the search.

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Hiker assisting police as search continues for Belgian Celine Cremer in Tasmania wilderness

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Investigators say hiker ‘not in any trouble’ but could help determine tourist’s movements prior to her disappearance

Police are continuing to search for missing Belgian tourist Celine Cremer in north-western Tasmania, a day after a hiker came forward who police hope could provide crucial clues about her disappearance.

Celine Cremer was reported missing on Monday but was last seen on 17 June in Waratah near Cradle Mountain.

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