Category Archives: Sydney

Second Sydney primary school among four more sites testing positive for asbestos contamination

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Single piece of bonded asbestos found in a garden bed at Allambie Heights public school

A second primary school in Sydney’s north is among four additional sites that have returned positive results for asbestos contamination.

The NSW Environment Protection Authority on Saturday confirmed Allambie Heights public school in northern Sydney, two residential estates under construction in Sydney’s south-west and Munn Park in Millers Point tested positive for traces of asbestos-laden mulch.

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Taylor Swift concerts will go ahead in Sydney despite asbestos testing at Olympic Park precinct

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Environment minister says authorities are testing mulch in the area but any issues would be resolved before pop star’s sold-out shows at Accor Stadium

The New South Wales environment minister has sought to assure Taylor Swift fans that the pop star’s Sydney concerts will go ahead next weekend, amid an asbestos scare at the precinct where she is due to perform.

On Friday, the day after a special taskforce was launched to aid investigations into sites where mulch containing asbestos may be present, authorities have conducted testing at a location at Sydney Olympic Park, where Swift is set to perform to about 300,000 fans over four days of concerts as part of her Australian tour.

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‘I can’t believe it’: diehard Taylor Swift fan gifted Eras ticket at pub trivia night in Victoria

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Quiz organisers were taken by 15-year-old Emily’s enthusiasm and when she didn’t win they decided to reward her anyway

Andrew Caldwell was the same age as his daughter is now when he saw his favourite band. He was 15, it was 1989, and Metallica was touring Australia for the first time.

His daughter Emily’s tastes are a bit different. She’s a diehard Swiftie and Caldwell spent countless hours trying to secure a ticket to Taylor Swift’s Eras tour for Emily so she could have the same formative experience seeing her favourite band at 15.

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Sydney asbestos mulch sites: map and full list of locations where asbestos has been found

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Hundreds of sites including schools are being investigated amid the growing asbestos mulch crisis across NSW. This map shows contaminated parks and other locations

Asbestos-contaminated landscaping materials have potentially been used at hundreds of locations across Sydney and at least one in regional New South Wales.

The premier, Chris Minns, has said the Environment Protection Authority is examining the sites as it undertakes its largest investigation ever.

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Sydney’s 90m-year-old climbing galaxias fish may have been wiped out by school building works

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The species can climb waterfalls and reaches back to Gondwanaland – but there are fears polluted runoff has proven fatal

A “miracle fish” may have been snuffed out in its Sydney habitat by bungled construction work at a nearby government high school, local environmentalists fear.

The climbing galaxias (Galaxias brevipinnis) belongs to a species line reaching back to Gondwanaland. It was only identified in the Manly Dam region in Sydney’s north – the fish’s most northerly known location in Australia – in 1998.

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‘It’s almost like having the Olympics again’: Sydney’s lunar new year celebrations grow bigger every year

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The festivities’ popularity isn’t lost on older migrants from Asia, who arrived in a country very different from today’s Australia

Simon Chan has watched Sydney’s lunar new year celebrations grow over the past two decades, from the small-scale events of the early 90s to what are today thought to be the largest outside Asia.

“Its almost like having a World Cup or the Olympics again, obviously on a smaller scale but the feeling is similar,” says Chan, the president of the Chinese Australian Forum, adding: “We see thousands and thousands of people descend on these events, its massive here.”

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Former tropical cyclone Kirrily brings torrential rain and flash floods to NSW

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The SES rescued three people from flood waters as the tropical low moved south over the Queensland border, with more wet weather forecast

New South Wales was lashed with torrential rain in the early hours of Tuesday, and three people were rescued from flood waters in their cars, as ex-tropical cyclone Kirrily moved across the state.

After wreaking havoc in Queensland, the ex-tropical cyclone crossed the border into western NSW on Monday afternoon, bringing heavy rainfall and flash flooding to inland communities, before reaching Sydney around 5am and bringing 21mm of rain and localised flash flooding.

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NSW mega-councils to foot the bill if they want to reverse forced mergers

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Labor to create legal pathway for council demergers after forced amalgamations by former Coalition government

New South Wales mega-councils will be forced to pay for their own demergers, in a move likely to anger local governments that have long been advocating for the state government to stump up cash and allow forced amalgamations to be reversed.

The Minns government will on Tuesday introduce legislation to parliament to create a legal pathway to demergers for councils, including Sydney’s Inner West, that wish to split – but it has made it clear it won’t be footing the bill.

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Kurtley Beale trial: woman aired sexual assault allegations on family trip to buy wedding dress, court hears

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Former Wallaby has pleaded not guilty and denies sexually assaulting woman at Beach Road Hotel in December 2022

A woman aired allegations she was assaulted by the rugby star Kurtley Beale with her fiance’s family during a trip intended for wedding-dress shopping, a court has heard.

Beale, 35, is facing one count of sexual intercourse without consent and two counts of sexual touching in the NSW district court, following the alleged incident at Bondi’s Beach Road hotel in December 2022.

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NSW police say analysis shows pro-Palestine chant in viral Sydney Opera House video was ‘where’s the Jews?’

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Independent expert says with ‘overwhelming certainty’ the phrase was not ‘gas the Jews’, as was widely reported around the world

New South Wales police say an independent investigation has found no evidence pro-Palestine protestors used the offensive phrase “gas the Jews” during a march near Sydney’s Opera House two days after the 7 October attacks on Israel.

The investigation by an “eminent expert” from the National Centre of Biometric Science examined a compilation video containing a number of audio and visual files.

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Two killed by freight train in Sydney as attempted track rescue ends in tragedy

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A woman was being helped off Berowra tracks by a man when both of them were struck, police said

An apparent train track rescue has ended in tragedy for two people in northern Sydney.

A woman, aged in her 30s, was being helped off the tracks at Berowra by a man, aged in his 20s, when they were both hit by a freight train about midnight on Friday, police said.

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Sydney Harbour shark bite: NSW Ambulance apologises after staffer leaked photo of victim’s injuries

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Family of Lauren O’Neill told ‘we believe a NSW Ambulance staff member was responsible’ for leak after St Vincent’s hospital launched investigation

A New South Wales ambulance staff member is responsible for leaking an image of a shark bite victim’s injuries from inside the hospital, the state’s health department has revealed.

NSW Ambulance said in a statement on Thursday afternoon it had apologised to the family of Lauren O’Neill over the incident.

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Kurtley Beale trial: ‘convince him he is guilty’, alleged sexual assault victim wrote in taped call note

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Rugby union star has pleaded not guilty and denies sexually assaulting woman at Beach Road Hotel in December 2022

A woman accusing rugby star Kurtley Beale of rape made hand-written notes to herself before confronting him with the allegations in a secretly recorded phone call, a court has heard.

One of the notes mentioned trying to “convince him he is guilty and not innocent”, the court heard on Thursday.

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Mayor issues flood warning – as it happened

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This blog is now closed.

We’ve just spoken to St Vincent’s hospital and confirmed that the woman bitten by a shark in Sydney Harbour last night remains in hospital in a stable condition.

The woman, in her late 20s, was bitten on the right leg by a suspected bull shark in Elizabeth Bay last night.

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NSW watchdog failed to act on contamination risk despite ‘damning’ asbestos findings

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Exclusive: environmental regulator has known for more than a decade that contaminated soil fill might have been used in childcare centres, schools and parks

The New South Wales environmental regulator has known for more than a decade that producers of soil fill made from construction and demolition waste were failing to comply with rules to limit the spread of contaminants such as lead and asbestos into the community.

Internal documents from the Environment Protection Authority (EPA), obtained by Guardian Australia, warned widespread breaches by industry meant potentially contaminated product might have been applied to land across the state, including at childcare centres, residential areas, schools and parks.

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Penrith council closes park over concern mulch could contain asbestsos

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Asbestos-like fragments found at newly-opened Regatta Park in Emu Plains sent for urgent testing, Penrith city council says

Penrith council has closed part of a park in western Sydney over fears it could contain asbestos-contaminated garden mulch from the same company that supplied the product used at Rozelle parklands.

Penrith city council says the newly opened Regatta Park at Emu Plains in the city’s west was partly closed after a review to determine if any mulch used by the council was provided by Greenlife Resource Recovery.

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Teenage girl dies after two boats collide at Sydney’s Grays Point

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Boating crash comes as at least 12 people are rescued from rips across beaches in three separate incidents on the NSW south coast

A teenage girl has died in hospital after being pulled from the water following a boating accident in southern Sydney.

The 16-year-old was rushed to St George Hospital after two boats collided at Grays Point in a horror start to the 26 January long weekend.

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Andrew O’Keefe avoids jail time for assault and drug possession convictions

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Judge tells court assault was ‘violent and degrading’ as former TV host ordered to serve 18 months on community corrections order

The former TV host Andrew O’Keefe has avoided jail despite being found guilty of “violent and degrading” domestic attacks.

The broadcaster was hit with three sets of charges over multiple incidents in 2021, including assault causing actual bodily harm, breaching a domestic violence order and possession of the synthetic stimulant drug mephedrone. O’Keefe denied the charges.

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In Australia, the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the UK, call the national domestic abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247, or visit Women’s Aid. In the US, the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines may be found via www.befrienders.org

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Asbestos found in mulch at new sites across Sydney following earlier Rozelle parklands discovery

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Hazardous material found in mulch at railway substations in Dulwich Hill, Canterbury and Campsie and alongside Prospect Highway, authorities say

Asbestos has been found in garden mulch at new locations in Sydney’s inner-west and west after the discovery of contamination at the Rozelle parklands earlier this month prompted wider testing.

The Transport for NSW (TfNSW) secretary, Josh Murray, confirmed on Wednesday that asbestos had been detected in recycled mulch used at three railway electricity substations as well as in landscaping works along a highway.

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Kurtley Beale trial: jury to be shown CCTV footage of Wallabies star allegedly groping woman

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Rugby union player pleads not guilty and denies groping and sexually assaulting the complainant, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, at Bondi Beach venue in 2022

Footage showing the Wallabies star Kurtley Beale allegedly groping a woman at a pub before sexually assaulting her in a bathroom will be played to a jury as he fights the accusations.

More than an hour of recorded CCTV from the Beach Road Hotel near Bondi beach is expected to be played to the New South Wales district court jury hearing the case on Tuesday.

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