Category Archives: New South Wales

Australia news live: NSW health system ‘catastrophically let down’ toddler’s family, minister admits

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Two-year-old waited in emergency department for three hours before suffering a cardiac arrest and dying. Follow today’s news headlines live

Victoria to offer contactless public transport tickets from next year

Victorians will be able to use their phones, bank cards or smartwatches to pay for public transport travel from “early next year in a staged approach”, according to reports.

Following a successful start of a ticketless bus trial in Wangaratta, the Allan Labor Government will begin switching on tap-and-go technology across Victoria’s public transport network from early next year in a staged approach – meaning some passengers will soon be able to use their bank cards, phones and smart watches to travel on full fare tickets.

The new ticketing system will continue to be underpinned by extensive technical testing and will be carefully rolled out starting with rail from the beginning early next year – allowing full fare passengers more ways to pay for their travel.

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Sydney commuters get four-month reprieve from rail industrial action after Fair Work ruling

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Rail union work stoppages to be suspended until 1 July as unions and state government try to strike pay deal

Sydney commuters have been granted a more than four-month reprieve from industrial action on the city’s train network, after the Fair Work Commission ordered rail union work stoppages be suspended until 1 July.

On Wednesday evening, the Fair Work Commission announced that while it would not grant the six-month suspension that the New South Wales government had requested, it would temporarily halt all industrial action to help unions and the government strike a pay deal.

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Service log for scuba gear used by British music producer who died off Byron Bay source of confusion at inquest

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Records for Karl Bareham’s scuba equipment could not be produced at his inquest, NSW coroner’s court hears

Servicing records for the scuba equipment used by a British music producer who died while diving near Byron Bay could not be produced at his inquest, a Sydney court has been told.

Karl Bareham was found lying on the ocean floor 2.5km off the coast during a dive tour of Nguthungulli/Julian Rocks on 24 September 2019.

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Man who made death threats against Brittany Higgins sentenced to at least 16 months in prison

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Higgins and partner David Sharaz were ‘terrified to leave the house alone’ because of online threats and abuse from David William Wonnocott

A judge has delivered a frank assessment of the man who threatened Brittany Higgins, her husband and her pet dog, saying he might just be an “awful person”.

In Sydney’s Downing Centre court on Wednesday, David William Wonnocott was sentenced to three years and two months’ jail. He must serve a minimum of 16 months.

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Sydney couple allegedly linked to caravan found with explosives charged over anti-Israel incident in Woollahra

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Scott Marshall and Tammie Farrugia charged regarding December graffiti attack in eastern suburbs but police say alleged ‘principal offenders’ not yet arrested

A couple allegedly named on a police warrant as part of an investigation into a caravan laden with explosives has been charged in relation to a separate alleged arson and graffiti attack in Sydney’s east.

New South Wales police on Tuesday charged Scott Marshall, 36, over an incident in Woollahra on 11 December last year when an allegedly stolen car was set alight and anti-Israel graffiti was painted on cars, buildings and a footpath.

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Six-year-old girl and woman die in Sydney house fire

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Four children and four adults escape blaze in Heckenberg, where police have established a crime scene

A woman and a schoolgirl have died in a house fire in Sydney’s south-west overnight.

Emergency services were called to the blaze at Heckenberg at 12.40am on Wednesday.

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Albanese says RBA rate cut ‘won’t have an impact’ on timing of federal election – as it happened

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The prime minister was also asked to weigh in on the ongoing dispute between the NSW government and rail unions – and whether the federal government plans to intervene.

But Anthony Albanese shot this suggestion down, saying this was “a state dispute of a state branch of a union over pay with a state government”.

I support very much the efforts of the Minns government to bring this dispute to an end, common sense has to apply here, and I think that the union needs to acknowledge that it is alienating people through these actions of not turning up to work. And there was hope on the weekend that it would be settled, [and] it should have been …

We’re getting to the point where the union needs to see common sense, settle this dispute with the Minns government. [The NSW premier] Chris Minns is working very hard to get an end to this dispute.

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Australia news live: embattled casino operator Star offered $650m lifeline; name of next cyclone changed from Anthony to avoid using PM’s name

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Hume rules out working with teals if Coalition wins 70-72 seats

Jane Hume was asked whether the Coalition was in a position to form any alliances with the crossbench, amid new polling from YouGov showing neither party looks to be coming out with a clear majority.

That would cause chaos, and would cause chaos politically and economically as well.

On average, the teals have voted with the Greens around 78% of the time, with Labor around 75% of the time, and with the Coalition around 18% of the time.

I think it’s really important to look at what people do rather than what people say. We’re planning on going to this election to win the election, because Australians deserve better than what they’ve had for the last three years.

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Police investigate potential Islamophobic assaults at Melbourne shopping centre

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Two women in hijabs allegedly attacked in Epping last week while racist graffiti reported in western Sydney

Police are investigating if two alleged assaults in Melbourne were Islamophobic incidents after women in hijabs were attacked during the day.

Victoria police said two women, a 30-year-old from Lalor and a 26-year-old from Wollert, were allegedly attacked by the same assailant at Epping shopping centre on High Street between 1.10pm and 1.20pm on Thursday.

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‘Work from home if you can’: Sydney commuters warned of more public transport chaos

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Train workers claim Fair Work Commission win as rail union warns of more potential delays and disruptions across network

Sydney commuters have been urged to work from home or check travel apps before leaving on Monday to avoid being caught up in potential public transport chaos amid rail unions’ ongoing standoff with the New South Wales government.

The warning comes as the Fair Work Commission on Sunday ruled high rates of sick leave by Sydney train drivers and guards on Friday did not constitute industrial action.

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Sydney’s archaic sewerage system a ‘significant’ source of microplastic pollution, CSIRO finds

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Malabar wastewater plant discharges 5.4bn to 120bn of microplastics each day, report says, prompting calls for more advanced treatment processes

It is not just human waste that is being pumped into the ocean off Sydney’s popular beaches due to the city’s unusual and archaic sewerage system – government scientists have confirmed billions of microplastics are also polluting the water.

A CSIRO report, released in 2020 but not reported on until now, found the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) at Malabar discharged an estimated 5.4bn to 120bn of microplastics into the ocean each day.

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Police raid home of Sydney nurse taken to hospital after allegedly threatening Israeli patients on video

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Israeli influencer Max Veifer posts video on Instagram stating: ‘The police are asking me for the unedited version. I have nothing to hide. Here it is’

A Sydney nurse at the centre of a video chat showing two hospital workers allegedly making anti-Israel threats to an Israeli influencer has had their home raided after being taken to hospital due to “welfare concerns”, police say.

New South Wales police confirmed officers from Strike Force Pearl executed a search warrant at a home on Friday night, as part of an ongoing investigation.

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Hundreds of Sydney trains cancelled as negotiation between NSW government and rail workers come to a halt

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Unions chief says ‘no one can predict the level of disruption that this is going to cause’

Sydney commuters have been warned to avoid non-urgent rail travel on Friday amid delays and hundreds of service cancellations, as a pay negotiations between the train unions and state government grinds to a halt.

The state transport minister, John Graham, said the network was in the midst of a major disruption. “We’ve had more than 350 services cancelled this morning and that is having a big impact across the network,” he told Sydney radio 2GB on Friday.

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NSW Labor accused of trying to ‘redesign’ a mental health system with no psychiatrists

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Patient care compromised by closing beds and shifting workload to less qualified staff, motion claims

The New South Wales Labor government is seeking to “redesign” the state’s mental health system without psychiatrists, despite the risks to patient care, its political rivals claim.

In a NSW legislative council meeting on Wednesday, the shadow assistant minister Susan Carter and the Greens’ health spokesperson, Dr Amanda Cohn, lambasted the Minns government’s handling of psychiatrists’ mass resignations, with Carter accusing the responsible ministers of having “sought to redesign our mental health system to work without specialist psychiatrists”.

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Influencer to provide unedited video of nurses’ anti-Israeli threats as pair prevented from practising in Australia

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Mark Butler says pair have had their nurses’ registrations suspended following their ‘sickening comments’

New South Wales police have spoken to an Israeli influencer who they say has agreed to provide investigators with an unedited version of a video chat in which two Bankstown hospital nurses allegedly threatened Israeli patients.

The video attracted widespread political condemnation after it was published by the Israeli content creator Max Veifer and led to the male nurse issuing an apology. The video depicted an edited online conversation Veifer had with the two staff members on a video chat platform similar to Chatroulette.

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Proposed ban on protest outside places of worship could prevent town hall rallies, Sydney mayor warns

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Clover Moore says police would have power to block peaceful demonstrations and warns against eroding civil rights

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Sydney’s mayor has warned that new laws proposed by the New South Wales government would give police powers to block peaceful protests at town hall – a regular site for demonstrations in the city.

The laws, introduced to parliament on Tuesday and carrying a maximum of two years in prison, are the first tranche of a suite of measures aimed at stemming antisemitism after a series of arson attacks and graffiti on synagogues and in Sydney’s suburban streets in recent months.

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Torrential rain and flash floods hit Sydney as massive storms roll across NSW and eastern Victoria

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Bureau of Meteorology warns severe conditions will continue as parts of NSW coated in hail

Thunderstorms across New South Wales and eastern Victoria on Monday brought flash flooding, destructive winds and hail, as the Bureau of Meteorology warns severe conditions would continue.

A major storm rolled across the Sydney CBD around midday on Monday, bringing dark skies and heavy rainfall. By mid-afternoon, he city had recorded 52.8mm of rain at Observatory Hill since 9am, according to the BoM. Horsley Park, 50km west of the city, had recorded 87.8mm.

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Woman dies after lightning bolt explodes tree in town near Sydney

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One woman killed and another taken to hospital with injuries to hands and face, paramedics say

A woman has died after being hit by debris from a tree which exploded when it was struck by lightning in a town south-west of Sydney on Saturday afternoon.

Paramedics and a medical team rushed to the address in Cawdor about 5.30pm Saturday. New South Wales Ambulance said one woman had been fatally injured by shrapnel from the tree.

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Brad Battin says Liberals ousted Greens in Prahran by ‘listening to locals’ – as it happened

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Coalition backs healthcare package

Gallagher welcomed the opposition backing Labor’s package for women’s health this morning. She said on ABC Insiders:

We know Peter Dutton wanders around saying he’s going to cut a whole range of things. He’s clear he sees a lot of our investments in Medicare as wasteful spending. But these are really good investments into women’s health. And it will make a difference for millions of people across the country including women who are going through men who really have felt left behind by the health system and hopefully these new measures will address all of those issues.

It’s come down quite obviously for women across the country, the use of contraception, going through different stages of your life, including menopause, that these are areas that either haven’t been addressed for decades, or haven’t been met appropriately through the Medicare system. So, you know, we have landed the hospital deal, keep investing in the public health system, we have got a lot of initiatives about strengthening Medicare and this builds on that.

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Former police officer should be jailed for fatally shooting 95-year-old with Taser, court told

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Clare Nowland’s manslaughter case was ‘unlike any other that I have had to confront’, judge tells Kristian White’s sentencing hearing

Former police officer Kristian White should be imprisoned for fatally shooting a 95-year-old great-grandmother with a Taser and still has not expressed genuine remorse for the crime, the crown prosecutor has told the NSW Supreme Court.

White was convicted of manslaughter last year over the death of Clare Nowland, whom he shot with a Taser at an aged care home in the southern NSW town of Cooma in the early hours of 17 May 2023.

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