Category Archives: Sydney

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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Early career essential workers unable to afford house prices anywhere in Sydney and Melbourne

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Study shows workers forced to commute huge distances, live in overcrowded housing or suffer rental or mortgage stress

There is no longer a single local government area across metropolitan Sydney or Melbourne where houses are affordable for early career essential workers, with a growing number of police commuting huge distances and nurses living in cramped share homes.

Essential workers are being forced to move further away from their inner city jobs due to ballooning rents and housing costs. Experts are warning that longer commutes are exacerbating stress and fatigue in industries where levels of both are already high.

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Fake eyelash remover used as party drug delisted from Amazon after Sydney WorldPride ban

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Police confiscated bottles of drug known as GBL, which can be sold under a loophole for industrial purposes

A fake eyelash remover has been removed from sale on Amazon and was banned from parties during Sydney WorldPride due to people using it as a party drug.

Warnings were placed outside the entrances to events such as the Bondi Beach party, which was host to 12,000 revellers during recent WorldPride celebrations, telling revellers not to bring in the cosmetic product, with an image of the product with a red cross next to it.

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NSW swelters in record heat as firefighters battle blazes

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Wagga Wagga experiences its hottest March weather yet, breaking a previous high set in 1983

Inland New South Wales sweltered through record-breaking March temperatures on Sunday as fires burned across the state.

While inner Sydney remained relatively cool – the mercury peaked at 28.9C, thanks to a sea breeze – the state’s western districts scorched, with temperatures above 42C in Bourke, Cobar and Brewarrina.

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Timid NSW transport policies show Labor and the Coalition have taken their feet off the accelerator

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No matter who wins the election, the task of tackling clogged roads and Sydney’s tolling mess will be immense

Sydney has been treated to a boom in public transport and road construction over the past decade, but the so far timid transport policies of the New South Wales election raise concerns the foot is coming off the accelerator.

The main policy differences to emerge between the Coalition and Labor surround how each side plans to expand the metro network westwards, Band-Aid solutions to address the cost of commuting through Sydney’s tolling mess and support for a contentious tunnel.

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Late-season heat may hit weekend sport and break temperature records across eastern Australia

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Sydney and Brisbane have been sweltering through unseasonal warmth and Melbourne is forecast to cop 37C on Saturday

Unusual late-season heat across much of eastern Australia may affect weekend sport and potentially challenge temperature records, forecasters say.

Sydney and Brisbane have already been sweltering through a couple of days of unseasonal warmth, straining power supplies on Thursday evening. The national electricity market was also suspended in New South Wales for almost an hour on Friday.

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Late summer heat for New South Wales with parts of Sydney on track for 40C

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Heatwave comes as Bureau of Meteorology confirms La Niña event that has brought much of the rain to the east coast is over

New South Wales will swelter through an unusual burst of summer in March, with a heatwave expected to grip the state this week with temperatures in parts of Sydney reaching close to 40C.

From Wednesday, parts of NSW will experience multiple days in the low to mid-30s while other areas will reach the high 30s.

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Fresh train delays in Sydney as expert warns outdated systems are likely to keep failing

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Professor predicts further outages as Labor attacks NSW government over $670m maintenance backlog

Sydneysiders have been hit with fresh train delays, and repeated outages due to outdated communications technology and poor backup system planning are likely to continue, a transport expert has warned, as the Perrottet government is accused of neglecting upgrades.

The warning came on Tuesday morning as commuters were told to “allow plenty of extra travel time” due to urgent signalling work at Broadmeadow and train repairs on the north shore line at Waitara that caused delays across the network.

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Australian Ethical offloads Lendlease shares over development threat to koala population

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The fund believes itself to be ‘one of the first’ in Australia to divest from a company over a concern for an endangered species

One of Australia’s leading ethical investment managers says it has sold its shares in Lendlease over concerns a planned housing development in south-west Sydney threatens the survival of Sydney’s largest healthy koala population.

Australian Ethical has divested $11m in shareholdings in the property developer’s listed assets, saying Lendlease had failed to provide “critical information” about the width of planned koala corridors at stage two of its Gilead housing development.

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NSW to grant coalmines licences for water from Sydney and Illawarra drinking catchments

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Perrottet government quietly gazetted rules day before caretaker period commenced for election campaign

The Perrottet government has introduced new rules that will grant coalmines licences for water from the drinking catchment for Sydney and the Illawarra region.

The government quietly gazetted the rules a day before the caretaker period commenced for the New South Wales election campaign.

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Sydney train commuters to get free transport day after rail network outage causes chaos

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Cybersecurity attack ruled out as rail shutdown puts pressure on NSW government before state election

The New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, has apologised for a peak-hour meltdown of the Sydney rail network less than three weeks out from the state election.

The shutdown on Wednesday afternoon left tens of thousands of passengers stranded, with Uber fares spiking to hundreds of dollars in surge-price fees.

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NSW Coalition accused of racism and paternalism after pledge to stop controversial development

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Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council proposed to build 450 homes at Sydney’s Lizard Rock

The New South Wales Coalition has been accused of racist, paternalistic and politically expedient decision-making after it vowed to spike a proposal to build 450 homes in bushland on Sydney’s northern beaches by its Indigenous proponents.

The Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council’s chief executive, Nathan Moran, said the decision by the government to block its plan for the 71 hectare Lizard Rock site was an attempt to save three seats at risk from teal independents at the 25 March election.

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Share of affordable properties in Australian capital cities has more than halved, analysis shows

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The proportion of dwellings listed for under $400 a week has more than halved to an average of just 15% across the country

The share of rental properties listed for under $400 a week has more than halved to 15% across most Australian capital cities over the past year, accounting for just 7.8% of Sydney listings in February.

Research from data provider PropTrack, based on analysis of realestate.com.au found renters seeking a standalone house faced an even tighter market, with less than 5% of Sydney homes listed at under $400 a week.

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Anthony Albanese among 50,000 marching across Sydney Harbour Bridge for WorldPride

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March helps draw to a close 17-day festival, which will wrap up on Sunday evening with a concert in the Domain

More than 50,000 brightly-dressed people marched across the Sydney Harbour Bridge on Sunday morning in support of pride and recognition of the long fight for equality for the LGBTQI community.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, helped lead the march alongside a number of “78ers”, the term given to those people who took part in Sydney’s first Mardi Gras as an act of protest close to 50 years ago.

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Christian prayer march along Newtown street was ‘unauthorised protest activity’, police say

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Around 30 men filmed marching down the LGBTQ+ hub of King Street praying and holding rosary beads above their heads

A group of around 30 men staged a Christian protest march on a popular entertainment strip in Sydney’s inner west on Friday night, in what police confirmed was “unauthorised protest activity”.

The men were filmed marching down King Street in Newtown, while praying and holding rosary beads above their heads.

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High temperatures and sunny weather headed for NSW, with parts reaching 40C

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Mercury forecast to top 30C in Sydney over the weekend, before rising to 35C on Monday

New South Wales is expected to swelter through high temperatures in the coming days, with some parts of the state forecast to nudge over 40C.

The mercury expected to top 30C across Sydney over the weekend, before rising again on Monday.

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Man shot dead outside Sydney gym in front of 12-year-old son

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Police say assailants shot man multiple times in chest as his son sat in passenger seat of car outside martial arts gym in ‘egregious, violent act’

A man has been shot dead in front of his 12-year-old son during a drive-by shooting in south-west Sydney.

Police said the 40-year-old man was outside the Elite Fight Force mixed martial arts gym in Sefton just after 6.30am on Thursday when the killers struck.

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