Category Archives: New South Wales

Potentially lifesaving Blue Mountains fire trails obstructed as bushfire season begins

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Exclusive: Residents who fought the black summer bushfires are concerned access tracks are not being maintained

Residents of a Blue Mountains town who were forced to defend themselves against an out-of-control backburn during the black summer bushfires are concerned fire trails in the area are not being maintained ahead of the fire season.

Guardian Australia has seen photographs of fallen trees obstructing two fire trails in Bilpin near the Tutti Fruitti cafe and surrounding homes, which were destroyed when the Rural Fire Service lost control of the backburn it lit near Mount Wilson in December 2019.

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Dfat says it has told Israel ‘unacceptable’ targeting of UN personnel in Lebanon must cease – as it happened

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Jacinta Nampijinpa Price on Voice referendum, one year on

The shadow minister for Indigenous Australians, Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, was on ABC News Breakfast earlier on the first anniversary of the Voice referendum.

We have been calling for an inquiry into statutory authorities for the last 18 months, which we believe need to be looked at closely because of their failures to ... well, not all statutory authorities, but some, in terms of their failures of how they’re supposed to serve the interests of those that they are supposed to represent.

And this has been ongoing now and something that the Albanese Government has continued to ignore. But those voices – especially of Traditional Owners – that I have been speaking to, are growing louder, with more concern. And, really, there is a need to fix the structures that currently exist, and it begins with an inquiry.

There’s no evidence at all that current laws led by the Albanese government are stifling businesses from employing people. In fact, we’ve actually created nearly 1 million jobs since coming to office a bit over two years ago … So unfortunately, for some of the leading business groups calling for this, the evidence of what’s going on in the economy just doesn’t back up their wish list.

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Minns backs LGBTQ+ reforms but students and teachers at religious schools could still face discrimination

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Independent Alex Greenwich says ‘heartbreaking’ to lose his proposed laws governing treatment of gay students and teachers but ‘it’s not over’

Transgender people in New South Wales could soon be able to change their sex on their birth certificates without getting surgery, but gay teachers will still be able to be fired from some schools after a watered-down proposal received the premier’s support.

The premier, Chris Minns, will this week ask the Labor caucus to back independent MP Alex Greenwich’s equality bill after a raft of amendments were made, including dropping changes to the Anti-Discrimination Act governing schools.

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NSW man allegedly stabs victim with scissors, gets shot and then swims away from police

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Police spotted alleged stabber in Murrumbidgee River but he swam to an island and climbed a tree, where he stayed for 12 hours

Being shot has not stopped an alleged stabber from trying his luck and swimming away from police in regional New South Wales.

The 33-year-old’s aquatic escape across the Murrumbidgee River followed his alleged stabbing of a man in Wagga Wagga.

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Tanya Plibersek defends Aboriginal heritage order blocking ‘irreversible damage’ of goldmine tailings dam

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Financial impact on mining company does not outweigh ‘permanent loss’ to cultural sites, environment minister says

Tanya Plibersek has defended her decision to issue an Aboriginal heritage protection order for the site of a proposed goldmine near Blayney, saying the financial impact on the mining company does not outweigh “irreversible damage and permanent loss” to Aboriginal cultural heritage sites.

The environment minister made a partial declaration under section 10 of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act in August, blocking a proposal by mining company Regis Resources to build a tailings dam for its $900m McPhillamys gold project in the headwaters of the Belubula River. The declaration did not cover the rest of the proposed mining area.

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Australia news live: QLD LNP leader says end of coal before 2030s ‘fanciful’; patients at Sydney GP given less-effective vaccines

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The LNP leader, David Crisafulli, appears to be walking away from a commitment to 75% emissions reduction by 2035. Follow today’s news live

Rowland questioned on gambling ad ban

Michelle Rowland was also asked why it has taken 16 months for the government – as yet – to make no decision on gambling ads. The communications minister said the government has “been working diligently in this space” but action “should have been taken on this some 10 years ago”.

We’re working very closely with the states and territories because the vast majority of recommendations in our late colleague Peta Murphy’s report go to issues that go across commonwealth and state jurisdictions.

We’re also working very closely to ensure that there are no unintended consequences here and it’s actually effective.

We have every anticipation that we will be able to respond comprehensively this year and that’s what we’re working towards as a government.

We will be taking advice on the appropriate form in which that can be done. Legislation is obviously an option because there is an interactive gambling act at the commonwealth level, which enables some of these approaches to be implemented.

There will be penalty for the platforms just as they are now in the Online Safety Act … These penalties will be drafted and, as I said, we’re currently reviewing the Online Safety Act because the penalties as they stand … the maximum penalties are less than $1 million for some offences.

They are being challenged but, at the same time, the industry does understand the need to comply here and, by and large, does comply with the rules under the Online Safety Act.

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Alleged domestic violence perpetrators to wear ankle bracelets under NSW bail reforms

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Corrective services will electronically monitor whereabouts of people released from custody while charged with serious offences

Alleged perpetrators charged with serious domestic violence offences in New South Wales will wear ankle bracelets and have their movements tracked around the clock if they are granted bail.

The NSW government announced the changes would take effect on Friday, and would involve corrective services electronically monitoring alleged perpetrators against geographic bail conditions using GPS technology.

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NSW police union pushes back at premier’s suggestion pro-Palestine protests divert resources from crime

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Police association boss says vast majority of officers at weekend rally were ‘doing user-pay or cancelled rest day’ shifts

The head of the New South Wales police union has denied any suggestion that patrolling weekly pro-Palestine protests is making it difficult to respond to or investigate crime across the state.

Kevin Morton’s comments came as the premier, Chris Minns, was forced to deny he had lost control of the Labor caucus after several of his MPs expressed alarm at his statement that police should be able to reject a protest permit based on the cost of patrolling it.

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Australia politics live: Richard Marles tells question time ‘I feel very sad that events have got to where they have’ after chief of staff’s bullying allegations

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The opposition communications spokesperson, David Coleman, is speaking to ABC radio RN, criticising the government’s legislation designed to keep the NBN in public hands.

He is having trouble saying whether the opposition will support the bill, or whether a future Coalition government would want to sell the NBN.

We’re not going to just sort of immediately jump at some silly theatrical statement from the government. The adults in the room will review this in a normal way.

We’ve got no intention of changing the ownership structure of the NBN. Nobody does. And frankly, because the NBN is going so badly, there’s not exactly a lineup of people [wanting to buy it].

Parents are crying out for a degree of certainty, they’re crying out for government guidance, a lot more rule that people can follow. That doesn’t mean there won’t be challenging but at least provides a starting point for parents. It gives them a tool about how to address this and parents who have gone through all this and all the pain that social media can place upon their children, they’re the ones I think are the most powerful advocates for this reform.

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Revealed: University of Sydney spent millions more on consultants than repaying wages of casual staff

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Greens say revelations a ‘damning indictment’ that speak to a ‘broken governance culture’ at prestigious universities

The University of Sydney has spent millions of dollars more on external contractors and consultants – including PwC – for calculating and administering liability for wage underpayments and a review of its systems than it has paid out to staff, answers provided to the Greens have revealed.

In the answers to supplementary questions, provided to chair of the New South Wales education committee, Greens MLC Abigail Boyd, it was revealed the university had repaid 514 casual staff a total value of $2.8m as of last month, while across all “remediation work streams”, it had paid 10,692 professional staff a total value of $17.4m.

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Controversial Sydney airport slot system faces government crackdown

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Carriers that cancel flights to block competition could face civil penalties in move against Qantas-Virgin duopoly

Airlines that strategically cancel flights to block competition at Sydney airport could face civil penalties as the Albanese government moves to crack down on the Qantas-Virgin duopoly.

A new bill, to be introduced on Wednesday, will focus on Sydney airport’s controversial slot allocation system, which restricts the airport to 80 takeoffs and landings per hour – known as slots. An overnight curfew to minimise noise further limits flight numbers.

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Australia politics live: Dutton attacks Albanese for including calls for ceasefire and de-escalation in motion reflecting on 7 October

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So what’s that ARC research project on islands actually about, anyway?

A blog watcher has taken the trouble to look up the research project that has Liberal MP James Stevens all hot and bothered, Archipelagic Connections in Australian and Pacific Literature:

Australia is often defined as an isolated island-continent, ‘girt by sea’. This project aims to challenge this protectionist myth by analysing literary and historical connections between different geographical sites that have been represented as enclosed in Australian history.

It expects to offer new interpretations of interconnected narratives of Aboriginal Australian, South Sea Islander and migrant enclosure in Australian literature.

The project also contributes to national strategic initiatives into the ‘truth telling’ on Australia’s past relations to Aboriginal Australians and the study of environmental change in islands and archipelagos.

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Curious koala survives close call at Sydney train station

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Marsupial caught on camera at Casula in city’s south-west, where urban development threatens wildlife

A curious koala has been captured wandering perilously close to a Sydney train line before the native animal was corralled to safety into nearby bushland.

The marsupial was caught on video crawling beneath a fence on to a platform at Casula train station, in the city’s south-west, shortly after 4am on Friday.

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Former police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon will lodge plea to murder charges soon, court hears

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Lamarre-Condon is charged with the domestic violence-related murders of former TV presenter Jesse Baird and his partner Luke Davies in Sydney

An ex-police officer charged with the alleged domestic violence-related murders of two men in Sydney will soon lodge a plea to the charges levelled against him.

Beaumont Lamarre-Condon, 29, has been accused of fatally shooting the Qantas flight attendant Luke Davies, 29, and former TV presenter Jesse Baird, 26, while he was off-duty.

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Australia weather: sunny skies expected for most of east coast and NRL grand final in Sydney

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Bureau of Meteorology says temperatures should reach high 20s in NSW and Queensland over the weekend, while Victoria can expect showers

Warm and sunny weather is forecast across much of eastern Australia as Sydney prepares for the NRL grand final and pro-Palestinian protests are being organised across the nation.

Wet weather is forecast in some areas, including Victoria, on Saturday, but temperatures should reach the high 20s in New South Wales and Queensland, according to Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Angus Hines.

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Sydney woman allegedly killed and dismembered husband in ‘bizarre’ murder case, police say

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Police say the man was reported missing last year and alleged his body was cut up with power tools to hide the remains

A Sydney woman has been charged with murdering, dismembering and disposing of her husband in bins almost 18 months after he was last seen, in what one detective described as one of the most “bizarre” cases police have seen.

New South Wales police have alleged Nirmeen Noufl, 53, intentionally killed and cut up the body of 62-year-old Mamdouh Noufl last year at their family home of more than 10 years in order to hide his remains. The incident is being treated as a domestic violence murder.

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Three men shot by police in unrelated Sydney and Melbourne incidents, two in critical condition

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NSW police fired at two men in a car allegedly driven at them, while in Hillside, Victoria police shot a man allegedly armed with a knife at scene of stabbing

Three men have been shot by police in two separate and unrelated incidents – with two fighting for their lives in hospital – in Sydney and Melbourne.

Acting assistant commissioner Paul Dunstan said at about 12.10pm on Friday, officers responding to a report of a stolen car in a Wentworthville car park in Sydney’s west, fired their guns at the vehicle after it was allegedly driven at them.

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Australia news live: PM introduces Tu Le as Labor challenger for western Sydney seat of Fowler

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A joint police statement warns “there will be no tolerance for illegal behaviour or violence on any day of the year” in the lead-up to protests planned for the 7 October anniversary.

The statement comes from NSW police, Northern Territory police, the Queensland police service, South Australia police, Victoria police, Western Australia police, Tasmania police and Australian federal police.

Police respect the right to peacefully protest and assemble in Australia, however, there will be no tolerance for illegal behaviour or violence on any day of the year.

In Australia, there are offences that prohibit behaviour that incites or advocates violence or hatred based on race and religion, including the display of prohibited symbols in public under these circumstances.

The commission can confirm it carried out operational activity today at Parliament House. This was in relation to an ongoing investigation.

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High-profile Sydney man had guilty conscience as he allegedly lied to police about intimate video, court hears

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The man, who Guardian Australia cannot name, has pleaded not guilty to nine charges, including five counts of rape

A high-profile Sydney man lied to the police with a guilty conscience after he allegedly threatened to distribute an intimate video of a woman, a prosecutor has alleged.

The crown prosecutor Adrian Robertson on Thursday concluded his closing argument in a sexual assault trial at Sydney’s Downing Centre expected to wrap up this week. Robertson told the court how the woman’s boyfriend had allegedly gone to the man’s home to retrieve the intimate video after he threatened to distribute it.

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Rally organisers and police reach agreement – as it happened

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The deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, is speaking with ABC RN from New Zealand where he is meeting with regional counterparts.

Asked about the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, and whether “ceasefire negotiations in Gaza are now dead”, Marles said the “continued violence in the Middle East is obviously giving rise to enormous threat to civilian life”.

I think the international community is desperate to see an end to this violence, and certainly that’s how we’re exercising our international voice.

Israel has a right to defend itself. Every country has a right to defend itself, and to do so in a proportionate way. That said, we are calling for a ceasefire, along with the United States, along with other members of the international community.

The continued violence in the Middle East is giving rise to … unacceptable numbers of civilian lives lost, and the ongoing violence is a threat to civilian life. And we, along with international community, urge an end to this.

We have [been protesting for] 51 weeks in a row, [and it’s been] absolutely peaceful. Millions of Australians have come out, it’s not provocative at all.

What’s provocative is the fact that our government isn’t listening to tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions of Australians, who have signed petitions, called their MPs, have done everything they’re supposed to do within this democratic framework to say ‘enough’ …

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