Category Archives: New South Wales

NSW government paid for homeless man to be sent back to New Zealand instead of offering housing

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Local council and state government attempting to move on residents living in an encampment by the river in Wagga Wagga

The New South Wales government paid for a homeless man in Wagga Wagga to be sent back to New Zealand instead of offering him temporary accommodation, in an attempt to move on residents living in an encampment by a river.

The local council and state government have been attempting to clear out the encampment for several months after a newborn baby died in May when its mother gave birth to twins in a tent.

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Alleged drone operator charged with murder after mistaken identity shooting in Sydney

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NSW police say 18-year-old was operating drone when arrested and likely ‘conducting surveillance on someone or some premises’

A Sydney teenager has been charged with murder after police accused him of operating a drone as part of a suspected botched gang hit in the city’s west.

Joshua Macdonald, 40, was shot dead at a Merrylands West home on 2 September in what police believe may have been a case of mistaken identity. He was not known to police and had no links to organised crime.

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NSW police settle trespass case after visiting Indigenous children’s home 150 times in 20 months

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Trespass case launched by two mothers settled after officers often went to families’ houses between midnight and 4am

Two Indigenous mothers have settled a trespass case against New South Wales police, after officers turned up at one of their homes 150 times in 20 months to conduct bail checks on her sons.

The case, which was launched against NSW police in April 2024, was settled on confidential terms three weeks before it was to go to trial in the supreme court.

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Man shot dead in Sydney community centre car park

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NSW police say a vehicle was seen driving away from the scene in Punchbowl in the city’s south-west

A man has been shot dead in a car park of a Sydney community centre in the city’s south-west.

Emergency services were called to the community centre on Rossmore Avenue in Punchbowl on Wednesday evening after reports of a shooting.

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Liberal operatives discussed whether to buy Porsche or Ferrari with developer’s payments, Icac hears

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Rightwing NSW powerbrokers are alleged to have received illegal political donations from fugitive developer

Two Liberal operatives traded photos and messages about whether to buy a Porsche or a Ferrari with payments they received for Toplace projects they got approved via a New South Wales government fast-track development process.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption on Monday heard more evidence from lobbyist Jeremy Greenwood, a principal of Beckington Consulting, who is alleged to have shared in $2m in payments from the fugitive developer Jean Nassif, owner of the now collapsed Toplace.

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Up to 6,000 tradies to get free qualifications under Labor scheme – as it happened

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Duniam targets ‘frivolous’ asylum seeker claims

The opposition is “very close” to “having a full migration package”, Duniam says. He says they’re willing to work with the government and that illegal overstayers must be deported.

We spend more per student per year than we ever have before and we’ve got declining standards across the board, and the problem with the curriculum is we have left foundations behind.

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Sydney reaches 33C in potentially warmest start to spring since mid-1800s, while snow forecast in southern NSW

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A total fire ban is in place for greater Sydney with extreme fire danger exacerbated by hot and windy conditions

Summer heat is due to arrive early across much of eastern Australia with potentially record early September temperatures predicted for Brisbane and Sydney, while snow was expected in southern New South Wales.

Maximum temperatures in Sydney during the first days of September were on track to match the city’s midsummer average of 26.4C, warmer than any other start to spring since the city’s Observatory Hill station opened in 1858.

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Molly Ticehurst’s killer called woman he’d met on Tinder after stabbing and said ‘I’m sorry I murdered her’, court hears

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Daniel Billings said ‘I did what I did’ in call from friend’s house after 2024 domestic violence murder

Two hours after Daniel Billings murdered his ex-girlfriend Molly Ticehurst in a frenzied stabbing, he spoke to a woman he had met on Tinder.

“I’m sorry I murdered her,” Billings told the woman during a phone call at 2.02am on 22 April 2024.

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Molly Ticehurst’s father tells DV murderer he hopes daughter’s screams will haunt him forever

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Tony Ticehurst confronts Daniel Billings during sentence hearing in regional NSW, stating: ‘When she died, part of me died with her’

The family of Molly Ticehurst, who was murdered by her abusive ex-boyfriend Daniel Billings in her home in central western New South Wales in 2024, has come face-to-face with her killer.

Tony Ticehurst on Thursday described his 28-year-old daughter as big-hearted and deeply loved. She was his best friend and confidant, he told the supreme court in Orange.

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Boy charged after teenager’s hand nearly cut off in Sydney

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NSW police called to Redfern on Wednesday night found a 17-year-old with a partially severed hand

A teenage boy will face court today after a “near-complete amputation” of a boy’s hand during an alleged assault in Sydney on Wednesday night.

New South Wales police were called to Redfern about 6pm last night and found a 17-year-old with a partially severed hand.

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NSW government to resume pill testing at music festivals but rejects calls for wider community rollout

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Use of sniffer dogs and searches will continue despite health and harm reduction groups arguing they could lead to riskier drug taking

Drug testing will resume at New South Wales music festivals from October, but will not be rolled out into the wider community despite calls from peak health and harm reduction groups, while the controversial use of sniffer dogs and searches will continue.

On Wednesday the state government announced NSW Health will consult with the music festival industry and harm reduction organisations to roll out pill testing at up to 15 music festivals each year.

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Inside knowledge or ‘making stuff up’? Charles Perrottet’s advice to Jean Nassif put under microscope by Icac

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Brother of former treasurer and premier faces questions about texts that appear to indicate he was aware of fast-tracking policy before it was announced

Did the former premier’s brother, Charles Perrottet, have prior knowledge of a Covid-era New South Wales government policy to introduce a fast track to approve major developments?

Did he take steps to ensure that developments owned by the fugitive developer, Jean Nassif, were successful through the fast track?

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Newborn baby’s body found in Sydney rubbish bin as police hold ‘serious concerns’ for mother

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Police urge mother to attend hospital after baby’s body discovered in Harrow Road in Auburn

New South Wales police have appealed for information to find the mother of a newborn baby boy, whose body was discovered in a rubbish bin in Auburn in Sydney’s west on Monday morning.

Police said emergency services responded to reports of the body of a baby located in a rubbish bin at a unit block along Harrow Road in Auburn at 11.20am, with officers from the Auburn police area command finding the body of a newborn boy.

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Man who murdered Molly Ticehurst unlikely to face life in jail, court hears

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Justice Natalie Adams says she is troubled by expert evidence about rape allegations in slain woman’s police statement

Molly Ticehurst’s ex-boyfriend is unlikely to face a life sentence for her domestic violence murder, a crime which galvanised a national movement against gendered abuse.

Ticehurst, a 28-year-old childcare educator, was found dead in her home at Forbes, in the New South Wales central-west, in the early hours of 22 April 2024.

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Charles Perrottet becomes Icac’s main character amid claims of hidden payments and political hit jobs

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The brother of former premier questioned over what, if anything, was done in return for $2m from developer turned fugitive Jean Nassif

Finally, we are hearing from one of the central characters, Charles Perrottet, in a saga that has occupied the Independent Commission against Corruption (Icac) for nearly four years.

It began with the dismissal of the Hills Shire council and a late night 2022 speech in NSW parliament alleging secret payments from a developer. It pirouetted to a pressure campaign allegedly to remove the then NSW building commissioner, and ended with real world impacts: defective high-rise buildings and thousands of unhappy homebuyers, with the developer nowhere to be seen.

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NSW ‘seeking urgent advice’ on controversial court ruling that found anti-Israel vandalism was not antisemitic

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Exclusive: Attorney general considering appeal after justice Desmond Fagan knocks back terror order request for Mohommed Farhat who wrote ‘Fuk Israel’ on cars

The New South Wales government could appeal a supreme court judge’s controversial decision to refuse its request for a terror order over a Sydney man convicted of writing “Fuk Israel” on cars and setting another vehicle alight in late 2024.

Justice Desmond Fagan this week found disparaging Israel was “political comment” not antisemitism. He rejected the state’s application that Mohommed Farhat be subjected to a one-year extended supervision order under the Terrorism Act when released from prison.

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Cults, setups and rumours: years after their downfalls, former NSW Liberal MPs are exacting revenge

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David Elliott and Eleni Petinos believe they were brought down by their own party. The Icac hearing has given them a chance to set the record straight

Revenge, they say, is a dish best served cold.

It’s been almost four years since the former New South Wales MP, David Elliott, announced that he would not seek preselection for a seat in the Hills in greater Sydney after his own seat was abolished. He had realised that, thanks to branch stacking in his area, he stood no chance of securing another.

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‘You have got to go’: former NSW minister tells Icac ‘something strange at play’ when she was sacked by Perrottet

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Eleni Petinos tells inquiry her sacking as a minister in Dominic Perrottet’s government was potentially motivated by her reluctance to get rid of the building commissioner

The former New South Wales fair trading minister Eleni Petinos has given evidence at a corruption inquiry that she may have been used by fellow Liberals to try to get rid of the building commissioner David Chandler, recounting numerous attempts in 2022 to persuade her he was “dodgy” and should be sacked.

She has also told the Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) inquiry that her subsequent sacking as a minister in the Dominic Perrottet government in July 2022 – allegedly for bullying staff – was unfair and potentially motivated by her reluctance to sack the building commissioner.

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From ‘elation’ to ‘terrible news’ in 10 minutes: how the confusion over missing bushwalker Lily Hooper unfolded

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The 18-year-old’s body was found in Nattai national park on Thursday – but initial police messages indicated she was alive

Police have blamed dense bushland and radio confusion for wrongly reporting to 18-year-old Lily Hooper’s parents, the New South Wales premier and the media that the missing bushwalker had been found alive.

Hooper had last been seen on 12 August after leaving home for a hike in the rugged bushland of Nattai national park, 90km south-west of Sydney. She was reported missing that night, triggering a multi-agency search involving nearly 1,000 people, including hundreds of volunteers.

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Three boys charged over alleged rape of teenage girl in Sydney home

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The 17-year-olds were charged over an alleged attack in Sydney’s south-west on Saturday

Three teenage boys have been charged over the alleged rape of a 17-year-old girl at a home in Sydney’s south-west on Saturday.

The three 17-year-old boys were arrested on Wednesday after the girl was allegedly attacked.

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