Category Archives: New South Wales

Pro-Palestine rally and standing vigil going ahead in Sydney after protesters and police reach agreement

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Decision reached after police launched supreme court action to have events scheduled for Town Hall on 6 and 7 October ruled unlawful

Pro-Palestine organisers have claimed victory in court, after announcing that both a rally on 6 October and a standing vigil on 7 October will go ahead after a last-minute agreement with New South Wales police.

NSW police this week launched supreme court action to have both events deemed unlawful, citing concerns over expected crowd size and potential hazards including “planter boxes” at Town Hall.

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Man bailed over alleged arson attack at Friendlyjordies’ home

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Andre Stepanyan, one of two men charged over an alleged arson at the home of YouTuber Jordan Shanks-Markovina in November 2022, will fight the charges

A man charged over the brazen firebombing of a controversial YouTuber’s house has been granted bail after a judge heard he had cut ties with an outlaw motorcycle group.

Andre Stepanyan is one of two men charged over an alleged arson attack at the home of Jordan Shanks-Markovina – who posts under the name Friendlyjordies – in November 2022.

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Cuddles and drama as live stream shows secret life of ‘ridiculously fluffy’ greater glider

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Camera installed inside a tree hollow in NSW forest to raise awareness of the plight of the endangered possum

Conservationists call them “ridiculously cute” and “captivating” – and now a live stream offers a global audience the chance to view life inside the hollow for a family of eastern Australia’s largest gliding possums.

The hollow-cam broadcasting live from a tree in south-east NSW offered unlimited greater glider viewing for animal lovers and reality TV tragics.

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Australia news live: Miles promises state-owned power company for Queensland; NSW police arrest woman following Sydney protest rally

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Children’s commissioner to address National Press Club today on youth justice

The children’s commissioner, Anne Hollonds, is due to address the National Press Club today on a new report calling for an overhaul of Australia’s approach to child justice.

That kind of slogan really is trying to show that ‘we’re really tough up here, we’re going to be tough on crime’. And what our report shows is that that approach, that traditional approach in this country, hasn’t worked and and that basically it’s evident that we’ve misunderstood the nature of the problem we’re trying to solve. We know that toughening up the justice system doesn’t actually prevent crime by children.

The idea that the states and territories could fix this on their own has been misguided, we need to work together on it.

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Pro-Palestinian protesters call NSW police attempt to block rally on 7 October ‘an attack on fundamental democratic rights’

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Exclusive: police will ask state supreme court to prevent the protests due to safety concerns as Palestine Action Group says it ‘unequivocally opposes’ move

The organisers behind the weekly pro-Palestine protests have criticised New South Wales Police for their decision to apply to the state’s supreme court to prevent two rallies from going ahead on 6 and 7 October.

Palestine Action Group (PAG) had informed police of the protests and submitted the required paperwork request, known as form 1, for both.

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Assange says he is free because he ‘pled guilty to journalism’ – as it happened

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National weather forecasts

Sticking with the weather, here’s a look at the forecasts across Australia’s capital cities today:

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Police allegedly pepper-sprayed 13-year-old at Sydney rally, legal observers say – as it happened

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Treasurer raised trade restrictions on lobsters with Chinese leaders

Asked about the trade restrictions on Australian lobsters by China, Jim Chalmers said:

We’ve got a bit more work to do on lobster, but I was able to convey directly to Chinese leaders that we want to see the speedy resolution of those issues.

It’s a really important part of stabilising the relationship, which is full of complexity and full of economic opportunity. And while I was there, the Chinese authorities announced some quite substantial steps when it comes to supporting growth in the Chinese economy. We’ve made it really clear that weakness in the Chinese economy has been a big concern for us. It’s a big part of the global economic uncertainty that we’re dealing with …

If you look at our Treasury forecasts in the budget, we’re anticipating the weakest few years of Chinese growth, really, since that economy opened up in the late 1970s [and] that’s been a big concern for us. We’ve been upfront about that, so any efforts to try and turn that around in China is a good thing for us.

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Protests across Australia as Penny Wong despairs ‘continued retribution’ in Middle East

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Local Jewish and Palestinian groups are preparing to mark one year since the October 7 attacks

As Palestinian and Jewish groups prepare to mark the first anniversary of the events that triggered the current Israel-Gaza conflict, the Australian government has again condemned the escalating cycle of violence in the Middle East, reiterating demands for a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon.

“We’ve seen so much violence in the Middle East,” the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said on Sunday.

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Melbourne in for chilly start to week as cold front brings frosty spring temperatures

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It follows a weekend of wild weather in NSW, where SES responded to 270 calls including two adults and a baby stranded in flood waters near Tweed Heads

A cold front moving across southeast Australia is promising to bring more frosty temperatures through next week after parts of New South Wales and Victoria shivered through a cold, wet and windy spring weekend.

Rain is expected for south-east Queensland, the New South Wales mid and north coasts over the next few days, but not in the quantities seen over the weekend.

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Kenneth died after routine knee surgery. His devastated family want answers

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Kenneth Toll, a 62-year-old diabetic, was found dead in a private NSW hospital’s bathroom three days after his operation

Craig Rose recalls catching up in a pub with his best friend of 35 years, Kenneth Toll, when they saw two old men sitting and laughing together at another table. Toll gave Rose a nudge and said: “That’ll be us one day”.

Toll was wrong.

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Man, 47, charged with murder after woman found dead at NSW property

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Police say the 46-year-old woman was found with significant injuries at Pokolbin in the Hunter Valley on Friday afternoon

A man has been charged with murder after his wife was found with fatal injuries at the couple’s Hunter Valley, NSW, property.

Emergency services were called to a property in Pokolbin, about an hour’s drive west of Newcastle, just after 6pm on Friday.

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Four dead in two-vehicle crash in western New South Wales

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Two men, believed to be in their 20s, and an older man and woman, were killed in the incident near Dubbo

Four people have died in a two-vehicle crash on the Newell Highway at Tomingley in western New South Wales.

Four people – two men, believed to be aged in their 20s, and an older man and woman – died at the scene of the crash that happened at around 9.20pm on Friday.

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‘People are dying’: rise of nitazenes should be treated as pandemic, injecting centre head says

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Exclusive: Dr Marianne Jauncey says NSW government must make ‘hard decisions’ to combat growing threat of synthetic opioids

The head doctor at Sydney’s medically supervised injecting centre has compared the rise of synthetic opioids to a pandemic and says she is worried the government isn’t willing to make the “hard decisions” necessary to prepare for it.

Dr Marianne Jauncey began raising the alarm about the increasing prevalence of nitazenes earlier this year but was concerned the Minns Labor government had been reluctant to act because it “still feels for many like an emerging news story”.

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Australia news live: Keating says Labor ‘flogging a dead seahorse’ over Aukus deal; severe weather for parts of NSW and Queensland

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The BoM has issued a severe weather update for parts of north-east NSW and south-east Queensland as wet and windy weather continues to batter the east coast. Follow today’s news headlines live

Dutton says PM ‘desperately hoping’ interest rates will fall

Opposition leader Peter Dutton believes Western Australia will play a crucial role in the election. He told the West Australian:

My judgment is that we’re waiting for the results to come in from WA before we know the outcome of the election this time around.

It depends on whether the prime minister’s waiting to see if interest rates come down.

He’d be desperately hoping that they come down in February of next year and he can go from there.

We live in the territory. This is our home. We are fighting to protect our water from the dangers of fracking.

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Three charges including one of rape against high-profile Sydney man withdrawn during trial

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The man is accused of raping five women, with charges regarding a sixth withdrawn on Thursday. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges

A high-profile Sydney man has had three charges against him – including one count of rape – withdrawn for an undisclosed reason and the complainant will no longer appear before the court.

The complainant who alleged the man had assaulted her three times, which led to the charges, was set to be the sixth and final complainant to appear before the New South Wales Downing Centre district court.

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NSW MP Gareth Ward says he went to parliament in his underwear at 4am after being locked out of his apartment

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Member for Kiama denies he was drunk at the time and says some media reports concerning the incident are ‘defamatory’

New South Wales politician Gareth Ward has denied being drunk when he went to state parliament at 4am on a Sunday morning in July, insisting he was simply collecting a spare key after locking himself out of his apartment in his underwear.

The Kiama MP said he made the eight-minute trip to parliament on foot from his Potts Point apartment on the “freezing” morning because he’d been locked out without his phone.

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Man charged with murder after allegedly stabbing rugby league player in Sydney’s Marrickville

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Police arrest 31-year-old man in Concord after Sitaleki Filihiahekava died on Monday evening

A man will face court over the alleged stabbing death of another man on a busy Sydney street.

The 31-year-old was arrested at Concord in the city’s inner-west on Wednesday afternoon and is due to face Burwood local court charged with murder on Thursday.

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Opposition leader calls for university’s leaders to quit – as it happened

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The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has joined an international push “to hold the Taliban to account” under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

Wong says:

We know the women and girls of Afghanistan are effectively being erased from public life by the various edicts the Taliban … have issued.

The steps we are taking with Germany, Canada and the Netherlands are unprecedented. We are intending to use the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, to which Afghanistan is a party, to take action.

If I can … say again to the Australian Lebanese community. This is a deeply distressing situation for so many of you. I know that there are many Australians in Lebanon. There are many Australians who have relatives, family and friends in Lebanon. I again urge Australians in Lebanon to leave now. There are flight cancelations and disruptions, and there is a risk that Beirut airport may close for an extended period of time.

Please do not wait for a preferred route. Please take the first option you can to leave. We continue to monitor the situation closely. We have been working with partners on contingency plans now for many months but I again say to anyone who any Australian who is in Lebanon: please leave now.

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Contraceptive pill available over the counter for more women in NSW after ‘huge success’ of trial

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No requirement to go to GP for new prescription for pill, as long as it has been taken for at least two years

More women in New South Wales will have easier access to the oral contraceptive pill as a trial designed to reduce pressure on the state’s healthcare system becomes permanent.

Under the changes, from Saturday women will be able to get a resupply of their pill from a certified pharmacist without needing to go back to the doctor for a new prescription – as long as they have been taking the medication for two years.

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NSW public housing official allegedly told woman she would get a home faster if she had sex with him

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Exclusive: Woman says she was ‘desperate’ to find a home for her and her child and was ‘preyed’ on by the staffer

Police are investigating a Homes New South Wales employee, who is alleged to have propositioned a woman on the waitlist for public housing, claiming that if she had sex with him he would arrange for her and her child to get into a home faster.

The woman, who is a survivor of domestic violence and had fled in order to escape her ex-partner, said the man sent her explicit text messages from his work phone and picked her up to take her for sexual encounters in his work car.

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