Category Archives: Sydney

Sydney dementia patient ‘didn’t sleep for months’ after police called to subdue her, family say

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Calls for reform grow with daughter of patient saying families should be notified when police are deployed to aged care homes

A family who say they were not told when police were deployed to help control their 79-year-old mother in a Sydney dementia unit are calling for a change to make it mandatory for family to be notified about the use of law enforcement.

On 4 June 2020, paramedics attempted to subdue an agitated Norma Robertson, who had only been in the care of the dementia unit at HammondCare in a Sydney suburb for about four weeks.

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Young humpbacks ‘full of beans’ as whale-watching season takes off in Sydney

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Up to 50,000 whales expected to pass Australia’s east coast during annual migration from Antartica to Great Barrier Reef

Carrie Davis describes seeing her first adult humpback whale of the season launching out of the water off the coast of Sydney last week as magical.

“It’s just this feeling of awe to see this fat whale of that size get all that body out of the water,” said Davis of Go Whale Watching in Sydney. “No matter how many times you see it, it always takes your breath away.”

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Sydney’s abandoned tram tunnels transformed into light spectacle for Vivid

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Hidden platforms and connecting tunnels are having their lights turned back on for the festival’s installation Dark Spectrum

There’s no Hogwarts Express, and instead of running towards a brick wall you slip through an unremarkable door next to a Coles supermarket, but for decades Sydney’s Wynyard station has had its own secret platforms hidden from the public – until now.

The hundreds of thousands of commuters who pass through each week may have wondered why the station boasts only platforms three through to six.

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Clover Moore warns NSW government against sale of state-owned land

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Exclusive: Sydney’s lord mayor says plan to sell unused parcels in order to develop housing is ‘disappointing’

The lord mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore, has called a plan to rezone and develop underused state land as “really disappointing” despite the New South Wales premier, Chris Minns’ insistence that the government housing scheme did not amount to privatisation.

Moore said the state government should instead be focused on genuine investment in social and affordable housing, while thinking carefully before making any decisions to sell off land.

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Quad summit cancelled after Joe Biden calls off trip to Australia

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Leaders of Japan, India, US and Australia will instead meet on sidelines of the G7 in Hiroshima this weekend

Anthony Albanese has confirmed the Sydney Quad meeting will not go ahead, after US president Joe Biden pulled out of his Australian visit to deal with domestic issues.

Early Wednesday morning Albanese was still hopeful the meeting with the leaders of India and Japan could proceed with a senior representative from the US, but hours later he confirmed the event was off.

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Sale of Waterloo South public housing will see residents rehoused nearby, NSW government pledges

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Exclusive: Tenants feel let down by Labor, but Chris Minns insists sale does not meet ‘definition of privatisation’

The New South Wales housing mister, Rose Jackson, is moving to reassure tenants in the Waterloo South public housing they will be rehoused within the suburb and offered spots back in the complex when the controversial development is completed.

The government has been fending off criticism for proceeding with the sale and is pushing forward with plans to sell more land to developers for housing, despite promising to end privatisation and freeze the sale of all social housing assets.

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Sydney Harbour to receive $45m for repair and protection after ‘decade of neglect’

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Harbourside sites such as seawalls and wharves at Cockatoo Island and Macquarie Lightstation in Vaucluse to be shored up with investment

Culturally and environmentally significant sites in Sydney Harbour will be repaired and protected with a $45m investment in Tuesday’s budget that the federal environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, claims is needed after “a decade of neglect”.

The money will be used to shore up a range of harbourside sites, including unstable seawalls and deteriorating wharves at Cockatoo Island, also known as Wareamah, and critical maintenance to keep sites open to tourists.

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‘Latte line’: poverty rises in parts of Sydney as gap hardens between city’s east and west

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Exclusive: One in five renters are among 1 million living in poverty, according to New South Wales Council of Social Services

The “latte line” dividing Sydney’s western and eastern suburbs is hardening, with new research identifying deepening levels of poverty within already disadvantaged areas and groups.

A report commissioned by the New South Wales Council of Social Services (Ncoss) also found one in five renters are among more than 1 million people living in poverty in the state.

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Joe Biden to visit Australia in May as Sydney hosts 2023 Quad leaders’ summit

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Meeting will bring together leaders of the US, India, Japan and Australia at the Sydney Opera House

The Sydney Opera House will be the focus of a major security operation when the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, welcomes the US president, Joe Biden and the prime ministers of India and Japan for a key diplomatic event.

Albanese said on Wednesday that “Australia’s most recognisable building” would be the venue for the Quad leaders’ summit on 24 May.

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Australia news live: defence strategic review ‘a cannibalisation of army mobility’, Hastie says; Victorian jockey dies after race fall

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Review calls for ADF to develop ability to precisely strike targets at longer range and to develop stronger network. Follow the day’s news live

Plibersek v Joyce on Newspoll

In their regular spot on Sunrise, environment minister Tanya Plibersek and Coalition frontbencher Barnaby Joyce weighed in on those Newspoll results.

They’re very strong support numbers, and I tell you the reason is not based on polling but what people tell me when I’m out around the country.

People tell me that they’re pleased to see a government that is just getting on with the job, doing what we promised and they’re impressed that the prime minister is just sticking with what he said he’d do.

We don’t have an election tomorrow and that’s a good thing.

A lot of people are starting to focus now on issues such as the voice and saying, “I don’t feel comfortable with this.”

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NSW police search for mother after newborn baby abandoned in Sydney’s west

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Police believe Blacktown location where baby was found was chosen at random and mother had no connection to the property

The discovery of a baby girl abandoned in Sydney’s west has sparked a search for her mother.

Emergency services were called to a home in Blacktown about 2.40pm on Friday, NSW police said.

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Chris Minns leaves door open to renegotiate gaming tax rise as Star casino cuts jobs

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NSW premier criticises former state government’s tax policy for casinos which he says lacked due diligence

The New South Wales government has left the door open to renegotiate a gaming tax forecast to raise $364m over three years, as the financial health of casino operator Star Entertainment deteriorates.

Star announced on Wednesday that it would eliminate 500 jobs and freeze salaries for non-unionised staff as it looked for $100m in annual savings.

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Two men charged over alleged Sydney kidnapping which left one victim with severed finger

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The men have been charged with kidnapping offences after a couple was allegedly abducted in the Sydney suburb of Fairfield

Two men have been charged over the alleged kidnapping of a man and a woman in Sydney’s south-west, which police say left one of the victims with a severed finger.

The alleged victims, a 26-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman, were walking towards a car park at Fairfield in Sydney’s south-west on 18 January when they were grabbed by two men wearing balaclavas, New South Wales police said.

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‘Always ready with a smile’: family and friends pay tribute to slain paramedic Steven Tougher

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Wife, parents and sister praise the father of one’s compassion, kindness and love for his job as an ambulance paramedic

Steven Tougher has been remembered as a man “always ready with a smile”, who touched and bettered the lives of those around him before his was cut drastically short.

On Saturday afternoon, Tougher’s wife, Madison, parents Jillian and Jeff, and sister Jess issued a statement on behalf of the family, paying tribute to Tougher’s compassion, kindness and love for his job as an ambulance paramedic.

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Man charged with foreign interference to remain behind bars until Monday – as it happened

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The 55-year-old businessman appeared via video link at Parramatta magistrates court. This blog is now closed

‘Really disturbing footage’: David Pocock responds to gas seep video

Senator David Pocock has called the video showing large methane gas bubbles active on the surface of Queensland’s Condamine River “really disturbing footage”.

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NSW police breached body-worn camera policies during shooting death of Indigenous man, coroner finds

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Inquest into death of Gomeroi man Stanley Russell urges changes to how officers handle people with an intellectual disability

A coroner delivering findings into the police shooting death of Indigenous man Stanley Russell said officers seriously breached their own policies on body-worn cameras during the incident.

The New South Wales deputy state coroner Carmel Forbes also recommended policy changes on how police handle people with intellectual disabilities, and urged them to clarify rules on when officers need to wear body cameras.

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Paramedic who died in stabbing at McDonald’s in Sydney’s south-west was a young father

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Police arrested 21-year-old man allegedly armed with a knife at the scene in Campbelltown, who is now in custody

A New South Wales paramedic had stopped at McDonald’s during an early morning shift break before he was fatally stabbed outside the fast-food restaurant in Sydney’s south-west on Friday morning.

Police say the 29-year-old father was grabbing a bite to eat with a colleague after finishing a job nearby when he was stabbed at the Campbelltown restaurant. His colleague then called for help just before 5.30am.

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Salim Mehajer allegedly choked girlfriend until she lost consciousness, Sydney court hears

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Former Auburn deputy mayor, 36, has pleaded not guilty to six charges related to alleged domestic violence

Former suburban Sydney deputy mayor Salim Mehajer has been accused in court of choking his then girlfriend until she fell unconscious.

Mehajer was charged in 2021 with three counts of common assault, intimidation intending to cause fear and physical harm, intentional choking and assault occasioning actual bodily harm with an alternate charge of common assault.

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Wet Easter weekend expected as cold trough heads across Australia

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Sydney and Melbourne could both see showers, while thunderstorms are forecast in Queensland

Australians can expect a cooler and wetter Easter long weekend than normal this year as a cold trough makes its way across the country.

In Sydney, Good Friday should begin with a sunny morning and reach a maximum of 26C, but showers or even a thunderstorm are likely to hit in the afternoon.

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NSW transport minister announces investigation into ‘serious problems’ on Sydney trains

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‘What I have learned alarms me,’ says Labor’s Jo Haylen but she insists independent inquiry will not be a ‘witch-hunt’

An independent investigation into repeated failings on Sydney’s train network will be launched by the New South Wales Labor government, but the state’s new transport minister insists it will not be a “witch-hunt”.

Jo Haylen said the dire state of the state’s heavy rail system had been laid bare in the urgent briefings she received in the days since being sworn in.

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