Category Archives: New South Wales

Hundreds of little corellas killed in suspected poisoning attack in regional Victorian city

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Horsham local Glenn Coffey says he witnessed large numbers of sick birds falling out of trees and drowning in Wimmera river

Victoria’s conservation regulator has launched an investigation into the suspected fatal poisoning of 300 little corellas in Horsham, in the state’s north-west.

The incident, which began on Tuesday last week, has killed hundreds of protected birds in a popular park near the Wimmera river, just south of the city centre.

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Bondi Junction killer missed out on mental health care because police lacked resources and were ‘overwhelmed’

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Queensland mental health specialist reveals she couldn’t find someone to cover her role while giving evidence at Sydney inquest this week

A Queensland police officer has told a coronial inquest that a lack of resources explains why her colleague overlooked an email requesting mental health support for Joel Cauchi a year before he stabbed six people to death in Sydney’s Bondi Junction.

The inquest on Monday heard from her colleague, Sen Const Peter McDiarmid, who was acting as the police force’s only mental health officer for a district serving 220,000 residents when he received an email from another officer asking him to follow up with the Cauchi family. But the court heard he did not make contact.

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Woman in custody after deaths of two children in regional NSW

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Police attending a home in Coonabarabran found a 66-year-old woman and two children – aged six and seven – who were both dead

A woman has been placed in custody over the death of two young children in regional New South Wales.

Just after 2pm on Monday, police attended a home in Coonabarabran in the state’s north-west following the reports about concerns for the children’s welfare.

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Riot police called to crowd chaos outside NSW selective school exams

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State education department secretary apologises after thousands of students and parents caught in ‘unacceptable’ situation

The New South Wales education department has apologised after riot police were called to manage out-of-control crowds at the state’s selective school exams.

Police were called to Canterbury Park Racecourse, south-west of Sydney’s CBD, at about midday on Friday following reports of traffic and crowd control issues. About 1,300 students had finished exams at the Canterbury site and were trying to leave with their parents, as another 1,300 students plus their parents attempted to enter the facility.

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Video shows moment Bondi Junction stabber ran at police officer in Sydney shopping centre holding knife

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CCTV footage released by court shows Amy Scott walking up an escalator, then starting to run when she sees Joel Cauchi

The New South Wales coroner’s court has released footage showing the moment the Bondi Junction stabber launched himself towards a lone police officer at speed holding a 30cm knife.

The video, made public on Thursday afternoon, is a compilation of CCTV footage and a 3D reconstruction of the route NSW Police inspector Amy Scott took when she entered Westfield Bondi Junction on 13 April 2024 in pursuit of Joel Cauchi, who had just stabbed 16 people.

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Journalist Nick McKenzie admits to ‘deceptive methods’ if in the public interest during Ben Roberts-Smith bid for appeal

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McKenzie was also questioned over his communications with Roberts-Smith’s ex-wife, Emma Roberts, and her friend Danielle Scott

Investigative journalist Nick McKenzie has agreed in Ben Roberts-Smith’s bid to reopen his appeal for his defamation case that he has used “deceptive methods and subterfuge” to obtain information “on occasion if it is in the public interest”.

McKenzie was cross-examined on Thursday afternoon by Roberts-Smith’s lawyer, Arthur Moses SC. It’s part of a two-day hearing in which the war veteran is arguing the appeal should be reopened in light of new evidence that he claims shows there was a “miscarriage of justice” in the defamation proceedings caused by McKenzie’s alleged “misconduct”.

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One Nation candidate poised to help Coalition in handshake deal has railed against climate science and Covid ‘little Hitlers’

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Exclusive: Stuart Bonds could hand the Nationals the seat of Hunter thanks to a preference deal and ‘last minute’ change to how-to-vote cards

A One Nation candidate who could hand the Nationals the seat of Hunter, thanks to a handshake preference deal, has called public health officials “little Hitlers” and promoted a conspiracy theory alleging the government has used the climate crisis to control every aspect of people’s lives.

Stuart Bonds told a livestreamed forum with rightwing activists last week that the federal government should not do anything to address climate change. He also claimed “a crime” was committed against Australians during the Covid pandemic, alleging they were used “as an experiment to sell pharmaceutical projects”.

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Paramedic denied access to Bondi Junction ‘hot zone’ tells stabbing inquest policies ‘need to change’

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Critical care paramedic Christopher Wilkinson arrived at Westfield 30 minutes after Joel Cauchi attacked 16 people, killing six

A New South Wales ambulance officer who attempted to save the lives of Bondi Junction stabbing victims on 13 April 2024 says he was “frustrated” after not being able to access injured and potentially dying patients.

Six people were stabbed to death by schizophrenic man Joel Cauchi at the Westfield shopping centre.

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Sole CCTV operator using bathroom when Bondi Junction attack began, Sydney court hears

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Coronial inquest into 2024 incident also told killer had ‘preoccupation with death and murder’ before fatally stabbing six people

The man who fatally stabbed six people in a Sydney shopping centre last April had a “preoccupation with death and murder” and made online searches for serial killers and the Columbine school shooters in the days before his attack, a court has heard.

It also heard that at the moment the attack began, the sole CCTV security room operator had been using the bathroom and re-entered the CCTV room less than two minutes later, towards the end of the man’s stabbing rampage.

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Synthetic opioids linked to spate of overdose deaths found in wastewater across Australia

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Detection of powerful nitazenes in samples from 60 sites a ‘red flag’ amid surging use to lace street drugs

Synthetic opioids a thousand times stronger than morphine and an animal sedative used to lace street drugs have been detected in Australia’s wastewater.

The discovery has been described as a “red flag” and comes as the deadly class of synthetic opioids – nitazines – claims dozens of lives in Australia.

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Man charged over Audrey Griffin’s murder found dead in prison cell

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Police confirm 53-year-old was found unresponsive at the Silverwater Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre late Thursday

The man accused of killing a 19-year-old Central Coast woman, Audrey Griffin, has died in custody just days after being charged with her murder.

A 53-year-old man was found unresponsive in his cell at the Silverwater metropolitan remand and reception centre about 4.50pm on Thursday, New South Wales police said. His death was not being treated as suspicious.

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Woman charged with sexual abuse of seven Sydney aged care residents

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The 46-year-old allegedly recorded video on her phone of abuse against elderly patients at a home in Grasmere

A woman has been charged after allegedly sexually abusing residents at the aged care facility where she worked, recording the assaults and sharing the videos with her partner, a 54-year-old man who was also arrested for possessing and disseminating bestiality material.

The 46-year-old will face a New South Wales court after an investigation into alleged sexual violence against residents at the home in Grasmere in Sydney’s Macarthur region.

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Third-party groups targeting teals in key seats swarm pre-poll areas in NSW and Victoria

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Third-party group Better Australia has posters and representatives wearing yellow ‘community adviser vests’ at multiple locations in Sydney.

Third-party groups targeting the teal independents are flooding pre-poll locations in Victoria and New South Wales, and include campaigners with links to the Jewish community such as Repeal the Teal.

In Goldstein, where the independent Zoe Daniel is hoping to hold off Liberal candidate Tim Wilson, Repeal the Teal has made its presence known this week with posters, T-shirts and pamphlets. The group is also campaigning in Kooyong.

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Sydney residents shaken awake by early morning earthquake in NSW Hunter Valley

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Preliminary information indicates the 4.6-magnitude quake occurred at a shallow depth of 10km

Aftershocks are expected from an earthquake that shook residents awake along a stretch of Australia’s east coast.

The quake struck at 2.55am on Wednesday near Singleton in the New South Wales Hunter Valley, about 200km north of Sydney, Geoscience Australia seismologists said.

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Trade unionists, conservationists and church groups unite against Dutton’s nuclear plan

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Seven Regions Nuclear Free alliance launches campaign representing groups who oppose the Coalition’s proposed nuclear reactors in their communities across Queensland, NSW, SA, Victoria and WA

Trade unions, conservationists, First Nations groups, church congregations and community organisations have launched a coordinated campaign against opposition leader Peter Dutton’s plan for nuclear reactors across Australia.

The Coalition has pledged, if elected, to build seven nuclear reactors to replace retiring or retired coal sites naming Tarong and Callide in Queensland, Liddell and Mount Piper in New South Wales, Port Augusta in South Australia, Loy Yang in Victoria, and Muja in Western Australia.

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‘She was the kindest soul’: man charged with murder one month after Audrey Griffin, 19, found dead in NSW creek

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Death of young woman whose body was found in creek on Central Coast not initially treated as suspicious

Police have revealed they were uneasy about attributing a teenage sportswoman’s death to an accident before new information sparked murder charges.

The body of 19-year-old Audrey Griffin was discovered partially submerged in Erina Creek on the New South Wales Central Coast on 24 March after she went missing on a night out.

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‘Misleading and offensive’: Allegra Spender denounces unauthorised pamphlet as AEC launches investigation

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More than 47,000 anonymous pamphlets distributed in Wentworth area, which includes Bondi Beach, Darling Point, Double Bay and Rose Bay

Allegra Spender has denounced “anonymous and misleading” pamphlets that the Australian Electoral Commission says had been distributed in her electorate of Wentworth without authorisation.

At a press conference on Monday afternoon, the independent member for the eastern Sydney seat welcomed an announcement by the AEC that it would be investigating the election material.

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Nine-year-old boy dies at popular NSW holiday spot amid spate of drownings over Easter long weekend

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The child died after becoming trapped between rocks at South West Rocks on Sunday afternoon

A nine-year-old boy has died after becoming trapped between rocks at a popular holiday spot on the New South Wales mid-north coast, amid a spate of drowning deaths over Easter.

Police and other emergency services tried to free the boy from the site at South West Rocks on Sunday afternoon but he died at the scene.

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Man in custody after late-night chase in Bondi that saw police car allegedly rammed and shots fired

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An officer fired at the car but there were no injuries, police say

A man has been taken into custody after allegedly ramming a police vehicle with a stolen Audi in Sydney’s eastern suburbs after an early-morning pursuit during which police fired at the car.

Police officers patrolling in Bondi began following a “suspicious” dark-coloured Audi A1 about 4am and a pursuit began, but ended the chase a short time later due to the speed, detective superintendent Jodi Radmore said.

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Woman dead and man missing after being swept into sea in Victoria as four die in separate incidents on NSW coast

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One woman managed to get back to shore after three washed into water near George Bass coastal walk south of Melbourne

A woman has died and a man is missing after they were swept from rocks near a popular coastal walk in Victoria.

A further three people have also drowned in separate incidents in New South Wales.

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