Category Archives: New South Wales

Attempt to prevent NSW climate protest overturned – as it happened

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New South Wales MPs condemned for ‘part-time’ parliamentary year

Scores of NSW MPs will earn the equivalent of more than $10,000 per sitting week in 2025 after a bid to increase the year’s 16-week calendar was rejected, AAP reports.

To do this, government MPs have to turn up to parliament and discuss matters. Voters won’t be happy that government MPs would prefer to hide in their electorate offices rather than turning up to parliament, where they face scrutiny.

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Anti-Israel vandalism in Sydney’s eastern suburbs ‘disturbing’, Anthony Albanese says

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Vehicle set on fire in Woollahra and 10 cars vandalised with slogans ‘fuck Israel’ and ‘PKK coming’

A vehicle has been set on fire and 10 cars have been vandalised with anti-Israel graffiti in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, sparking outrage and condemnation from politicians including the prime minister.

New South Wales police said they had discovered the graffiti on the cars and the door of an apartment complex in Woollahra after they were alerted to the blaze about 12.30am on Thursday.

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Uber to limit surge pricing and commuters urged to work from home amid Sydney train shut down

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Government to meet union officials again on Thursday after a Wednesday meeting didn’t resolve the industrial dispute

Sydney’s trains are set to shut down this weekend after an emergency meeting between rail unions and the New South Wales premier on Wednesday produced no solutions.

The government will meet leaders from the Rail, Tram and Bus Union again on Thursday in a final bid to avert industrial action from train staff, which would see trains stop running across the city on Friday, Saturday and into Sunday.

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Dutton’s position on international student caps ‘utterly reckless’, Giles says – as it happened

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Oxfam reacts to Australia’s Cop29 pledge

Oxfam Australia has welcomed the government’s Cop29 pledge of $50m towards a global loss and damage fund to help the world’s most vulnerable people to repair the damage from climate breakdown.

If climate change losses and damages are not included in the new global climate finance goal, the new fund for responding to loss and damage risks becoming an empty vessel.

The danger is that developed country governments will prioritise meeting the new and ambitious climate finance goal, and will not prioritise a fund that doesn’t count towards it.

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Heatwave forecast for south-eastern Australia triggers energy supply and fire danger warnings

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Coming hot weather prompts Australian Energy Market Operator to predict shortfall in electricity supplies for NSW and Queensland

South-eastern Australia will endure its first big heatwave of the season in the coming days, elevating fire risks and potentially straining the power grid in some states.

Dean Narramore, a senior Bureau of Meteorology forecaster, said day and night temperatures would be as much as 8-14C hotter than usual for this time of year.

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Australia politics live: Dutton calls Labor’s international student caps bill ‘a dog’s breakfast’; RBA fuels expectations for February interest rates cut

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First investment announced as part of National Reconstruction Fund

The science and industry minister, Ed Husic, was on ABC News Breakfast to discuss the government’s first investment via the National Reconstruction Fund – $40m to a Toowoomba mineral processing factory.

The difference in terms of what the [NRF] does is it provides loans, equity, and guarantees to firms that are [working across] seven priority areas to expand and grow their operations.

Given the sizes of the investments, it does take more time to be able to go through to shape up what the investment will look like, how big it’ll be, over what term, the rate of return – because the other important thing to stress to viewers is – this is not about handing out grants, and certainly not doing it on the basis of political colour-coded spreadsheets as we saw with the last government.

In fact, the social media users were less likely to have a negative attitude towards Jewish and Muslim people, irrespective of where they were on the political spectrum.

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Police officer who tasered Clare Nowland was ‘fed up’ she would not drop steak knife, jury told

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Kristian White did not consider 95-year-old a threat and fired stun gun because he was ‘impatient’ and ‘not prepared to wait any longer’, manslaughter trial told

A police officer’s cursing just before he tasered an elderly woman who was holding a knife showed the aged-care resident was not a threat but that he was simply fed up with the situation, a jury has heard.

Dramatic footage of the incident taken from the nursing home’s CCTV and police bodyworn cameras has been shown at a NSW supreme court manslaughter trial for Sen Const Kristian White.

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Police officer who tasered Clare Nowland tells court taking knife from her hand came with ‘high risk’

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Sen Const Kristian White says situation with 95-year-old carrying knife ‘was not going to be resolved without the use of force’

A police officer who fatally tasered a 95-year-old woman in a nursing home said he tried to give her “every opportunity to drop the knife” she was carrying, but she had “made her intent clear: she was going to use that knife on anyone that got near her”.

Sen Const Kristian James Samuel White also told the court simply taking the knife out of Clare Nowland’s hand came with “risk, high risk”.

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Alan Jones charged with 24 indecent assault and sexual touching offences against eight victims

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Former Sydney radio host – who has previously denied all allegations against him – charged over incidents that allegedly occurred between 2001 and 2019

The former Sydney radio host Alan Jones has been charged over alleged historic indecent assault and sexual touching offences spanning two decades.

Jones was arrested by New South Wales police after a “long, thorough, protracted” investigation at about 7.45am on Monday morning at a unit in Sydney’s Circular Quay.

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Queensland fails to crack down on ‘rebranded sunbed’ that claims to stimulate collagen but accelerates ageing

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Collariums, which emit UVA radiation, are often advertised on private social media accounts, thwarting search warrant efforts

Queensland Department of Health investigators are struggling to prosecute sunbed operators claiming the devices are “safe” because inspectors do not have the necessary UV detection equipment, and because services are being advertised on private social media accounts.

Guardian Australia called and messaged several wellness clinics and individuals operating out of their homes throughout New South Wales and Queensland, confirming that businesses are offering “collarium” treatments with rates starting at $25 for 20 minutes of use. Some of these businesses did not explicitly advertise collariums on their social media pages or websites but did offer collarium bookings over the phone.

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Bushfires force evacuations in Victoria’s west as wild weather menaces Australia’s south-east

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Firefighters battle two out-of-control blazes as other communities brace for winds, storms and possible flash flooding

Two out-of-control bushfires in Victoria have forced townships to evacuate and destroyed at least one home as parts of Australia’s east remain on alert for fires while being hit with wild winds and storms.

Firefighters were on Sunday working to contain the fires in Victoria’s west, with flash flooding and heavy rainfall possible in the state’s north-east, south-east New South Wales and north-east Tasmania.

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Bushfire evacuations in Victoria’s west as conditions prompt catastrophic danger warnings

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Gellibrand, Dereel and Kadnook residents told to leave as total fire bans declared across parts of South Australia and Victoria

Several communities in Victoria’s west have been urged to evacuate as firefighters work to control a number of bushfires.

A short-lived heatwave has brought hot, dry and windy conditions to much of southern Australia, with total fire bans in place and some areas experiencing catastrophic fire danger.

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Woman caught with golden gun in luggage at Sydney airport ‘deeply regrets’ actions, court hears

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Liliana Goodson is ‘capable of rehabilitation’ after being caught travelling from US to Australia with firearm, lawyer says

A woman who “deeply regrets” packing a gun in her bag before she flew to Australia will face sentencing in December following further delays in her court case.

Liliana Goodson admitted illegally importing an unauthorised illegal firearm and illegally importing ammunition as she faced a hearing earlier this year.

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Winning designs: the terraces and apartments designed to fast-track NSW housing

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State’s housing pattern book, launching in 2025, seeks to cut red tape and reduce development application times with pre-approved designs

Five winning terrace and apartment designs will be pre-approved in a new NSW government “pattern book” in a bid to fast-track housing development in the state.

The designs were selected from more than 200 in the state government’s Pattern Book Design Competition, submitted by architects from Australia and around the world.

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Coles and Woolworths face class actions over claims misleading promotions deceived customers – as it happened

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Watt says issue of reconciliation not closed in Australia despite voice referendum

Wrapping up the interview, Murray Watt was also asked about the haka performed in New Zealand parliament yesterday over a controversial bill that proposes to radically alter the way New Zealand’s treaty between Māori and the crown is interpreted.

I think there are many Australians who care very deeply about the rights of our First Peoples. Of course, Australians had their say on the voice to parliament in the recent referendum but I don’t think that means the issue of reconciliation is closed in Australia. That is something that our government remains committed to working on with our First Peoples and I think a lot of Australians support that as well.

I probably won’t comment on what’s happening in New Zealand because it’s their own affairs, but it shows these issues still really matter to people.

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Police make arrest and seize water pistol after incident outside NSW parliament – as it happened

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Could Donald Trump really fire Kevin Rudd?

The former prime minister’s criticism of Donald Trump has drawn the ire of those in the president elect’s inner circle, and prompted renewed debate about whether the incoming administration could seek retribution.

I’d be very much opposed to that.

You’ve got the world’s richest man, and you’ve given him this position of incredible influence in the American government. I think jobs for mates is a very bad idea. I don’t think that politicians should be putting their friends, their dear friends into positions of great influence in this country.

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News live: Birmingham says Australia could learn lessons from ‘disrupter’ Trump in making government more efficient

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The treasurer, Jim Chalmers will today announce funding of $900m for states and territories through a new national productivity fund to boost competition and productivity across the economy.

Launching the plan in a speech to the Australian Business Economists in Sydney, Chalmers is hoping the plan will will incentivise states to achieve productivity gains through pro-competitive policies such as streamlining commercial planning and zoning, and removing barriers to the uptake of modern construction methods.

In March this year, on behalf of the Council on Federal Financial Relations, I asked the Productivity Commission to model the potential impacts of a revitalised NCP.

Its final report landed this month and the benefits on offer are substantial, if not staggering. The PC found a revitalised NCP could boost GDP by up to $45bn a year and reduce prices by 1.45 percentage points. That GDP boost represents about $5,000 per household, per year.

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German backpacker was probably killed by her boyfriend, NSW inquest hears

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Investigator of 2005 cold case says it was ‘probable’ Tobias Moran killed Simone Strobel, despite charges being dropped

The lead investigator in the cold case of backpacker Simone Strobel has told an inquest he still believes she was probably killed by her boyfriend.

Strobel’s naked body was found hidden under palm fronds at a sports ground in Lismore in the New South Wales northern rivers region in February 2005, six days after she was reported missing.

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Man charged with murder after woman’s body found in Penrith hotel – as it happened

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Meteorologists are forecasting that thunderstorms will develop over large swathes of the country every day this week, and likely into next.

Ben Domensino from Weatherzone has outlined the forecast as follows:

Early in the week, showers and thunderstorms will target central, eastern, southern and southeastern Australia on Monday and Tuesday. Severe thunderstorms are likely in parts of NSW and [Queensland] on both days and are also possible in other states.

Storms will become more focussed on a broad arc stretching across Australia’s eastern and northern states and down into the WA interior through the middle of the week. Sydney, Brisbane and Canberra will all be at risk of severe thunderstorm activity on Wednesday.

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Magnitude-4.1 earthquake near Muswellbrook likely part of ‘swarm’ that could see ‘hundreds to thousands’ of shocks

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Seismologist says it is ‘too early’ to link fourth event of sequence to mining activity in the Hunter region

A 4.1-magnitude earthquake that rocked the New South Wales town of Muswellbrook is likely part of an “earthquake swarm” that could see “hundreds to thousands” of small to moderate shocks over the coming months, according to a government seismologist.

The earthquake, which hit around midday on Tuesday and was shallow at 3km deep, is the fourth event over magnitude four in three months in the Hunter region. On 23 August, a 4.7-magnitude earthquake hit Muswellbrook, damaging homes and businesses.

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