Category Archives: New South Wales

Woman allegedly raped by high-profile Sydney man hoped they would be together, court hears

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The man, who cannot be named, has pleaded not guilty to 12 charges, including six counts of rape

A woman who alleges she was raped by a high-profile Sydney man has denied she is “completely making the incident up”, a court has heard.

Under cross-examination by David Scully SC, the woman was also asked about her feelings for the man, and about her statement to police that she thought she and the man were going to “be together” and that she “had an obsession with him”.

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Greens MP to tour Sydney Jewish Museum and donate funds after offensive ‘tentacles’ trope

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Exclusive: Jenny Leong, who apologised after referencing antisemitic cartoon, was subject of human rights commission complaint

New South Wales Greens MP Jenny Leong will visit the Sydney Jewish Museum and has donated $4,000 after a complaint was lodged with the Australian Human Rights Commission over comments she made about Jewish lobby groups last year.

Leong apologised and said she did not intend to reference an antisemitic cartoon depicting Jews as an octopus after footage emerged of comments she made at a Palestine Justice Movement forum in Sydney in December 2023.

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NSW nurses and midwives announce strike – as it happened

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Australia’s ‘sex report card’ released

The latest Australian Study of Health and Relationships was revealed at a conference in Sydney this week held by the International Union Against Sexually Transmitted Infections.

Rent assistance went up by $25 and … average rents have gone up by more than $100. What might look like a big percentage increase is, frankly, fuck all, and that’s one of the reasons that this is so upsetting.

When CRA is indexed, the amount of rent that you have to pay before you get any rent assistance increases. So the proportion of your rent, where you qualify for it, reduces if you aren’t receiving the maximum payment.

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Man fights for life after allegedly being shot twice in rural NSW home invasion

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Police say victim, 46, was at home in Hillston, near Griffith, when he was shot in the abdomen by an intruder on Friday morning

A man is fighting for life in hospital after allegedly being shot twice in the abdomen when a group of intruders entered his home in a small town in rural New South Wales.

Police alleged the 46-year-old man was inside a home in Burns Street in Hillston, about 100km north-west of Griffith in the state’s Riverina region, when three people – one armed with a gun – came inside the house about 2.30am Friday.

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NSW police reopen two investigations after landmark gay hate crime inquiry

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Police commissioner Karen Webb hopes new technology and fresh eyes lead to breakthrough in two of state’s 854 unsolved murders

New South Wales police have reopened active investigations into two of the state’s 854 unsolved murders as part of their response to a landmark inquiry that found they failed to properly investigate dozens of potential gay hate crimes over 40 years.

The two murders are being investigated while detectives look at a further 213 case files prioritised by a special unit of the state’s police force – Taskforce Atlas - which was launched to oversee the implementation of the gay hate crime inquiry’s recommendations.

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NSW government announces free weekend train travel in bid to avoid industrial action – as it happened

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Australia “abstained with great disappointment” on the Palestinian-drafted resolution at the United Nations general assembly in New York early this morning, the Australian ambassador to the UN has said.

The resolution – which sought to act on a recent advisory opinion of the international court of justice – was passed with 124 votes in favour and 14 against. Australia was one of 43 countries to abstain, including the UK, Canada and Germany.

That is why we abstained with great disappointment.

We wanted to vote for a resolution that directly reflected the ICJ Advisory Opinion.

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NSW police bust alleged criminal network behind $1.8bn of Sydney cocaine sales this year

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Police allege the criminal gang, dubbed The Commission, controlled the price of cocaine in Sydney by manipulating supply

A drugs gang dubbed “The Commission” linked to the distribution of more than $1.8bn worth of cocaine across Sydney in four months has been “uprooted” by police.

The New South Wales police operation began in July, when a 21-year-old man from Guildford in the city’s west was charged with with two counts of supplying a prohibited drug in a large commercial quantity.

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Australia news live: Labor’s preliminary refusal of Pep11 gas project ‘an amazing step forward’, Scamps says; total fire ban announced for parts of NSW

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Follow today’s news live

On the double-dissolution threat floated by Anthony Albanese yesterday, Sarah Hanson-Young says:

Again, why, why be so bullish about this? The Australian people don’t need a panicked prime minister who wants to press the exit button because he can’t get his own way.

They want a government that’s willing to work across the parliament. Now, a third of Australians voted for parties other than Labor or Liberal at the last election. And they did that because they want a parliament that works for them.

We want to fix it. We want to give the government the opportunity to fix it. I’m not just interested in saying no to things. I want to get outcomes. I guess that’s my concern.

This prime minister seems to have such a chip on his shoulder, doesn’t want to work with anyone. Just wants to do it all his way. I don’t think this is a very good sign for the future. Come on, come on, prime minister, you know, let’s put – put aside the politics and get on with getting some outcomes.

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Labor push for vote on help-to-buy bill delayed in Senate – as it happened

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White House marks three years since signing of Aukus agreement

Happy three-year anniversary of the signing of Aukus, to those who observe.

Three years ago, President Biden and our Australian and United Kingdom partners committed to Aukus, an enhanced security partnership that promotes a free and open Indo-Pacific that is secure and stable.

As this partnership has grown, it has strengthened the security of our allies in the region as well as our own security here at home. Over the past three years, our countries have made significant strides in supporting Australia’s acquisition of a conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarine capability.

That is bad news for Australian solar homes.

To create space for inflexible nuclear power plants ramming energy into the grid, millions of household solar systems will be the first casualty.

Solar power is already being switched off in South Australia when it makes so much free power available that it exceeds electricity demand.

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Nearly one in 10 NSW men have faced legal action for domestic and family violence, study finds

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According to the research, the first of its kind in Australia, 1.2% of people born in the state were responsible for more than 50% of recorded offences

Nearly 10% of men in New South Wales have had police take some form of legal action against them for domestic and family violence, according to the first Australian population study of prevalence of offending, published on Monday.

The research published by the Australian Institute of Criminology found that 6.3% of people – 9.6% of men and 3% of women – born in NSW were found to have been proceeded against by police for a family and domestic violence offence by the age of 37.

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Mixed bag for Labor and the rise of the Libertarians: the key surprises in the NSW local elections

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ALP faces a variety of results in what premier Chris Minns calls a ‘massive wake-up call for the major parties’, and Liverpool mayor returns amid corruption inquiry

The counting of votes has resumed to determine the makeup of New South Wales’s 128 councils for the next four years.

The main story of the local government elections was the Liberal party’s disastrous failure to lodge the paperwork to nominate more than a third of its candidates.

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Canberra shivers through coldest September morning ever as south-east Australia records freezing temperatures

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Capital’s weather falls to -6.9C on Monday while parts of inland NSW drop below zero and SA town has coldest September morning in more than 62 years

Much of Australia’s south-east shivered through freezing temperatures overnight, with another frosty morning forecast for Tuesday before temperatures warm back up.

Canberra marked its coldest September morning on record, reaching -6.9C on Monday. The previous September record of -6.8C was set 12 years ago in 2012.

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Was Amber Haigh murdered? More than 20 years on, a judgment will be delivered

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The nine-week trial of Robert and Anne Geeves, accused of killing teenager Amber Haigh in 2002, comes to an end on Monday

The enduring mystery of the disappearance of Amber Haigh faces a key reckoning Monday morning, with judgment in a trial for her murder.

Haigh, who had an intellectual disability, vanished without trace from the New South Wales Riverina in June 2002, leaving behind her five-month-old son.

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The rise of the Libertarians: ‘fringe’ party could win 15 NSW council seats after Liberals’ bungle

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Minor party could be largest group on MidCoast council and state MP John Ruddick says ‘if you put in a development [application] we will approve it’

The Libertarian party could have up to 15 councillors across New South Wales and take control of a major regional council following the Liberal party’s failure to nominate more than 100 candidates for the weekend’s local government elections.

The NSW Liberal leader, Mark Speakman, said on Sunday his party had “performed strongly” where it had fielded candidates – despite 16 council areas either having no Liberal candidates or fewer than they were meant to.

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Woman killed by falling tree branch in Sydney as wild winds hit NSW coast

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Meteorologist Gabrielle Woodhouse says dangerous conditions caused by low-pressure system offshore generating gale-force winds and large waves

A woman has died in New South Wales after a tree branch fell on her as strong winds hammered Sydney.

Emergency services were called to Castlereagh Street in Liverpool at about 1pm on Sunday after the woman was struck. Ambulance paramedics treated the woman at the scene but she could not be revived, NSW police said.

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Clover Moore claims historic sixth term as Sydney lord mayor

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Longtime independent politician thanks community for support in face of misinformation and ‘awful’ campaign

Clover Moore has claimed a historic sixth term as the Sydney lord mayor despite a swing against her in a campaign she described as the “toughest” of her career.

The longtime independent secured another four years in the top job on Saturday evening, declaring victory in front of supporters at the Arthouse hotel in Sydney’s CBD.

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Mother held in jail after being charged with murdering her two sons in Blue Mountains home

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The 42-year-old woman fronted Parramatta local court in Sydney on Saturday in a brief hearing where she did not apply for bail

A mother charged with murdering her two sons at their Blue Mountains home has made a brief court appearance where she was remanded in custody.

The 42-year-old woman fronted Parramatta local court in Sydney for the first time on Saturday in a brief hearing where she did not apply for bail.

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‘When they go low’: Clover Moore apologises as volunteer caught allegedly pulling down Indigenous rival’s corflutes

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Team Clover volunteer filmed allegedly removing campaign posters of Yvonne Weldon from outside National Centre for Indigenous Excellence in Redfern

The lord mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore, has apologised to an Indigenous political opponent after a volunteer was accused of removing corflutes outside the National Centre for Indigenous Excellence in Redfern.

Yvonne Weldon posted a video recorded by one of her team members of a man who had allegedly taken down the corflutes to make way for Moore’s banners.

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National RSL head backs call to stop veterans charity name being used on pokies venues

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Exclusive: Concerns venues ‘don’t share values’ as debate continues over whether poker machines belong in RSL clubs at all

The national head of the Returned and Services League of Australia has backed a push to stop licensed clubs from using the RSL letters in their names amid internal division over whether poker machines should be phased out of the venues altogether.

The RSL president, Greg Melick, said the veterans’ charity was concerned its name was being used by “organisations that don’t share our values” and that licensed clubs should have to ask for permission before using it.

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‘Not on my watch’: how windfarms became a key issue in NSW local elections

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From Port Stephens to Illawarra, council candidates are running against renewable schemes because of ‘lack of consultation’

Part of what’s driving Mark Watson’s pitch for mayor is his opposition to a project he says is the talk of the town and the “biggest issue” in his coastal home’s history.

The former One Nation candidate for the state government is now running as an independent for mayor of Port Stephens. The coastal town just north of Newcastle overlooks the middle of the 1,800-square kilometre offshore windfarm zone off the Hunter, where the Albanese government plans a renewable energy hub to be operating by 2030.

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