Category Archives: Sydney

PM speaks out against discrimination; Penny Wong calls on China to rein in Putin – as it happened

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Dozens of flood warnings across NSW after state lashed by heavy rainfall overnight. This blog is now closed

Wong highlights decline in the UN’s Human Development Index

Despite inheriting the biggest debt in our nation’s history, the new Australian Government is determined to play its part in supporting the development of other nations, particularly in our region.

We are alarmed that, for the first time, the UN’s Human Development Index has declined for two consecutive years – in 2020 and 2021 – and the impact of this decline has been most severe on women and girls, with nearly half a billion women and girls now living in extreme poverty. And the global food security crisis is increasingly grave.

The Australian parliament I serve in is ever more reflective of our modern nation, both enriched by their diversity. And this follows the collective decision of the Australian people to turn the page and write a new future for themselves. Newly elected parliamentarians have origins from across the world and Indigenous Australians have been elected in record numbers and serve in the ministry in record numbers.

The new Australian government is determined to make real progress on the national journey of healing with Indigenous Australians, the First Peoples of our continent. And as foreign minister, I am determined to see First Nations perspective at the heart of Australian foreign policy, and this week I have been encouraged by discussions with other countries on their own journeys. I am humbled to be guided in these efforts by First Nations colleagues.

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NSW levy on ride-hailing and taxi passengers extended until 2029

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Levy to compensate taxi licence holders for disruption of the industry by Uber forms part of $645m in payments as industry faces complete deregulation

NSW ride-hailing and taxi passengers will pay levies for another two years – until June 2029 – as taxi licence owners move a step closer to securing further compensation.

The government has outlined its plan to deliver a further $500m to licence holders, on top of $145m already doled out, as part of plans for the complete deregulation of the industry.

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Severe weather causes major flight disruptions at Sydney airport ahead of AFL grand final weekend

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Approximately 40 flights due to land in or depart Sydney were cancelled on Thursday morning, leading to cancellations in Melbourne

Hundreds of people have had their travel plans thrown into chaos as high winds and heavy rainfall led airlines to cancel dozens of flights in and out of Sydney airport in the lead-up to the AFL grand final.

Approximately 40 flights due to land in or depart from Sydney were cancelled on Thursday morning, leading to knock-on cancellations in Melbourne, as severe weather warnings were issued by the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) for heavy falls and thunderstorms across New South Wales’ east coast.

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World’s top cosmetic surgeons to discuss reported side-effects of enzyme used to dissolve facial fillers

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After dozens of patients revealed complications to Guardian Australia, the use of hyaluronidase to be raised at international conference

The world’s leading cosmetic surgeons will this week discuss reported side-effects of an enzyme used to dissolve facial fillers, after dozens of patients revealed complications to Guardian Australia.

Earlier this month, the Guardian spoke to more than a dozen patients who claimed to have suffered serious pain and side-effects after being injected with an enzyme called hyaluronidase to fix medical or aesthetic issues arising from prior cosmetic injections.

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Moses Kibet wins Sydney marathon in record time on Australian soil

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  • Cosmas Matolo and Chalu Deso Gelmisa come second and third
  • All three better previous fastest time in Australian races

Kenyan Moses Kibet has claimed a historic victory in the Sydney marathon as the top three finishers all bettered the previous fastest time on Australian soil.

Kibet clocked a winning time of two hours, seven minutes and three seconds on Sunday, crossing the line just two seconds ahead of countryman Cosmas Matolo.

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Beachfront homeowners push to extend Collaroy seawall to protect property from erosion

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Northern Beaches council considers plan to add 80 metres of controversial concrete wall as massive swells batter coastal properties in Sydney

What some consider the ugliest wall in Australia could soon be bigger, with residents pushing to extend the Collaroy seawall on Sydney’s northern beaches.

Northern Beaches council has received a new application by five local property owners to build two new sections of the wall in front of their properties to protect the homes from coastal erosion and massive swells.

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‘All high value’: video of raid on Melissa Caddick’s Sydney home shows extensive jewellery collection

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Inquest into disappearance and presumed death of alleged fraudster shown footage of 12-hour raid at Dover Heights mansion in November 2020

As the corporate watchdog and federal police turned Melissa Caddick’s Sydney mansion upside down searching for evidence of her alleged multimillion-dollar fraud, the businesswoman took an afternoon nap.

Earlier on that mid-November 2020 morning, Caddick had shown Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Asic) and federal police officers rows of earrings, bracelets, cufflinks and necklaces from luxury brands including Dior and Stefano Canturi. They were all seized from a safe, her inquest was told.

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New South Wales government ‘ready and willing’ to discuss bringing rebel LIV golf tour to Australia

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Exclusive: State’s sports minister says NSW is ‘the perfect place’ for major tournaments, with Greg Norman believed to be scouting Sydney courses

The New South Wales government is “ready and willing” to have discussions with Greg Norman in a bid to bring the Saudi-backed LIV golf tour to Sydney, the state’s sports minister has said.

Amid increasing speculation Norman is seeking to bring the controversial breakaway tournament to Australia, the minister, Alister Henskens, confirmed he was open to hosting the multi-million dollar rebel series.

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Coalmine wastewater spill south of Sydney turns Royal national park creek to black sludge

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NSW EPA investigating third coal pollution incident this year involving Peabody Energy’s Metropolitan mine

A creek running through the Royal national park, south of Sydney, has been hit by a coal wastewater spill that turned its water into thick, black sludge.

It is the third coal pollution incident investigated by the New South Wales Environment Protection Authority this year involving Peabody Energy’s Metropolitan mine at Helensburg.

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‘Interspecies innovation arms race’: cockatoos and humans at war over wheelie bin raids

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Research shows Sydney residents devising increasingly sophisticated ways to keep highly intelligent but ‘bloody annoying’ birds out of household waste

Cockatoos and humans are locked in what Australian researchers have described as “an interspecies innovation arms race”.

Sydney residents are resorting to increasingly sophisticated measures to prevent sulphur-crested cockatoos from opening and raiding household wheelie bins, detailed in new research published in the journal Current Biology.

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Sydney north shore residents face third day without water after main bursts

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Sydney Water apologises to residents of Lane Cove and surrounding suburbs for water supply and traffic issues

A burst water main has left residents in parts of Sydney’s lower north shore without water for three days and caused chaos on roads and public transport.

Water continued to gush on to Epping Road in Lane Cove on Monday, three days after what Sydney Water called a “complex” water main burst.

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Australian travel industry braces for ‘influx’ as royalists plan to attend Queen Elizabeth’s funeral

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Guardian Australia understands the few remaining Qantas seats from Australian capital cities to London have been quickly booked since the news of monarch’s death

Australia’s travel industry says it is bracing for an “influx” of Australians deciding to travel to London to attend Queen Elizabeth’s funeral.

Guardian Australia understands the very few remaining Qantas seats from Australian capital cities to London have been quickly booked since the news of the Queen’s death. Peter Hosper, the commercial director of Travel Authority Group, said his agency was preparing for more inquiries on Monday.

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Australia reacts to monarch’s passing – as it happened

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The prime minister Anthony Albanese is addressing the nation about the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

He said it is a loss that is “felt deeply in Australia”. The Queen was a rare and reassuring constant in a period of massive change, he said, and was the only monarch to visit Australia, which she did 16 separate times.

There is comfort to be found in Her Majesty’s own words. “Grief is the price we pay for love.”

This is a loss we feel deeply in Australia. Queen Elizabeth II is the only reigning monarch most of us have known, and the only one to ever visit Australia. Over the course of a remarkable seven decades, Her Majesty was a rare and reassuring constant amidst rapid change. Through the noise and turbulence of the years, she embodies and exhibited a timeless decency and enduring calm. Her

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Sydney train strikes: NSW government and rail unions to seek conciliation next week

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The union is seeking a 3.5% annual wage rise, with an additional cost-of-living supplement

The New South Wales government and rail unions will seek to resolve a long-running dispute by conciliation before the Fair Work Commission next week.

The commission’s deputy president, Bryce Cross, had initially rejected a bid by Sydney Trains and NSW TrainLink applying to enter conciliation during a hearing on Friday.

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Passengers escorted off Qantas flight by police after Sydney airport security breach

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All passengers were escorted out of the screened area of Melbourne airport because one passenger had bypassed screening in Sydney

All passengers on a Qantas flight from Sydney on Wednesday evening were escorted off the plane by police to the unscreened area of Melbourne airport, after one passenger managing to bypass screening.

A Qantas spokesperson said “a passenger on a Sydney to Melbourne service (QF487) boarded the flight after inadvertently passing from an ‘unscreened’ to a ‘screened’ part of the airport in Sydney.”

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Federal government seeks to change law that has become central to Sydney train strike dispute

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NSW government had threatened to terminate existing enterprise agreement with rail workers over ongoing industrial action

The federal government has put the Fair Work Commission on notice that it plans to restrict the power of employers to terminate enterprise agreements, something the state Coalition in New South Wales this week threatened to do in its ongoing dispute with rail workers.

After months of bargaining and Sydney train strikes, the NSW government announced on Thursday it would seek to terminate its existing agreement covering thousands of rail workers in the state if the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) failed to cease industrial action.

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Close of business: NSW government gives rail union deadline to end industrial action

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Government to seek termination of enterprise agreement unless further action is ruled out before weekend

The New South Wales government will seek to terminate the enterprise agreement of thousands of rail workers and scrap a deal to modify a multi-billion dollar fleet of trains unless the union agrees to end all industrial action by 5pm Friday.

In a dramatic step that could set the stage for a prolonged court battle, the government wrote to the head of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU), Alex Claassens, and threatened to file an application with the Fair Work Commission to terminate the agreement.

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Australian house prices falling at fastest rate since 1980s as ‘sharp’ downturn widens

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CoreLogic says every capital city except Darwin fell in August, with Sydney dropping 2.2%

Every capital city in Australia except Darwin is now in a housing downturn, according to a new report, with values falling at a trajectory not seen since the 1980s.

CoreLogic’s home value index shows national housing values are falling rapidly, after rising about 29% during a period of sharp growth.

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Sydney train strikes: Dominic Perrottet bets the house on a public relations war

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The NSW government is hoping that frustrations over disruptions will turn sentiment against the rail union

Dominic Perrottet’s 11th-hour decision to press the nuclear button in the long-running dispute with rail workers is a high-risk gambit. The New South Wales premier has bet the house on his ability to win a public relations war against the union.

For months, the state government has insisted that rail strikes that have crippled Sydney’s transport network are “politically motivated”.

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Sydney train strike: NSW premier says ‘this ends today’ as he threatens to tear up industrial agreement

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Dominic Perrottet says he will meet the rail union in court if workers reject government’s final offer

The New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, has issued a sensational ultimatum to the state’s rail workers, vowing to tear up their industrial agreement and meet the union in court unless they accept his government’s final pay offer.

Amid the latest round of chaos on the state’s rail lines on Wednesday, a visibly angry Perrottet said that after 58 meetings he would no longer bargain with the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) over a new enterprise agreement.

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