Category Archives: New South Wales

‘Mind-boggling’ nomination failure sparks sacking of NSW Liberal party state director Richard Shields

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Administrative bungle leaves party without a senior leader, four weeks out from statewide elections

The New South Wales Liberals director Richard Shields has been sacked after a “mind-boggling” failure to nominate more than 130 candidates for local government elections.

In a statement issued after an emergency meeting late on Thursday night, the party’s state president, Don Harwin, said its executive had unanimously decided to terminate Shields’ employment over the fiasco.

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‘Shocked and gutted’: NSW Liberal councillors mull legal action against own party over administrative disaster

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Fallout continues over Liberal party’s failure to lodge paperwork to nominate 136 candidates in upcoming council local government elections

Disappointed New South Wales Liberal councillors are not ruling out taking legal action against the party, and others are demanding their money back after an administrative disaster that will prevent them from running in upcoming elections.

Councillors said they were “shocked” to learn through the media that the Liberal party had missed the noon Wednesday deadline to lodge the necessary paperwork to nominate 136 candidates for the 14 September local government elections.

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Wieambilla killer’s ‘incredibly disturbing’ emails sent to police before massacre, inquest hears

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Close associate of Nathaniel Train tells Queensland coroner’s court they forwarded emails to NSW police hours before deadly shootings

A close associate of one of the Wieambilla killers forwarded four “incredibly disturbing” emails from his account to New South Wales police hours before the Train family gunned down three people in Queensland, a coronial inquest has heard.

The emails were not passed on to Queensland police before they sent four officers to 251 Wains Rd, Wieambilla for a missing persons’ search, two of whom would be killed by Nathaniel, Gareth and Stacey Train, the court heard.

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New figures show NSW children are being ‘criminalised for their disadvantage’, advocate says

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More than half the 10- to 13-year-olds who faced court had been a victim of violence and about a third had accessed homelessness services, report finds

Children aged 10 to 13 facing criminal penalties in New South Wales are “overwhelmingly” from disadvantaged backgrounds and disproportionately Indigenous, according to a new report.

It comes amid debate over the minimum age of criminal responsibility, after the Victorian government reneged on a commitment to raise the age from 12 to 14. In NSW, children as young as 10 can be charged, convicted and incarcerated.

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Record-breaking downpours in eastern Australia put emergency services on high alert

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Parts of the Queensland coast copped a battering into Wednesday of more than 100mm in less than six hours

Emergency services are poised to carry out rescues as record-breaking downpours have soaked parts of south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales.

South-east Queensland’s coastal catchments have been issued with a flood watch warning, as have parts of the NSW Northern Rivers.

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Murder-accused couple spoke about Amber Haigh in the past tense to police, prosecutors allege

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Crown alleges in closing statement Robert and Anne Geeves acted like teen was already dead when she was still considered missing

As police were still searching for missing teenager Amber Haigh, Robert and Anne Geeves were speaking about her in the past tense in police interviews because they knew she was already dead, prosecutors have argued before the New South Wales supreme court.

In closing submissions to the nine-week trial over Haigh’s alleged murder, the crown prosecutor Paul Kerr argued Justice Julia Lonergan “would be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Amber Haigh is dead and that she is dead because Robert and Anne Geeves – in the execution of a joint criminal enterprise – murdered her”.

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Sydney man dubbed north shore rapist loses bid to keep identity a secret

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Graham James Kay, who was imprisoned for sexually assaulting eight women, argued he feared for his safety

A man dubbed the “north shore rapist” has failed in a legal bid to keep his identity secret after repeatedly committing predatory acts towards women over several decades.

Graham James Kay had an order prohibiting the publication of his name revoked by the New South Wales supreme court on Tuesday despite the 72-year-old arguing he feared for his safety.

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When Amber Haigh vanished, police planted listening devices in home of murder accused. This is what they heard

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Robert and Anne Geeves recorded discussing how investigating police ‘can’t find nothing’

Listening devices planted in the home of a New South Wales couple accused of murder reveal the pair discussing allegations the husband tied up and raped a teenaged Amber Haigh while his wife filmed. They make no admissions on the clandestine recordings but say, “there’s not enough evidence to back it up”.

Haigh, who had an intellectual disability, was 19 when she vanished from the NSW Riverina in June 2002, leaving behind her five-month-old son.

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Riding the rails: a visual guide to the latest stretch of the Sydney Metro

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The $21.6bn extension from Chatswood to Sydenham, crossing under Sydney harbour, is finally on the brink of opening. Join us on a tour

The next stretch of the Sydney Metro, set to open imminently, has been billed as a game-changer for city commuters.

Not only will the Chatswood to Sydenham section of the $21.6bn line drastically cut travel times and introduce a new crossing under Sydney harbour, it’s also set to dictate settlement patterns, with the New South Wales government basing much of its flagship housing policy along the corridor.

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Linda Reynolds defends actions following Brittany Higgins’ alleged rape – as it happened

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Budgets running on fumes as car costs outpace inflation

High transport costs are fuelling household budget concerns, AAP reports, with research revealing a surge of more than 10% over the course of a year.

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NSW closes loophole to stamp out fires caused by substandard lithium-ion batteries in ebikes and scooters

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New rules declaring the popular devices a form of transport mean the batteries must meet strict international product standards

New South Wales is cracking down on the sale of some ebikes and e-scooters in a nationwide first aimed at reducing the scourge of battery-related fires, while pushing for a nationally coordinated approach to the growing problem.

Low quality ebikes and e-scooters have contributed to a spate of fires across the country, with lithium-ion batteries now the fastest growing cause of fires in the state.

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Australia news live: Linda Reynolds deleted some text messages with Bruce Lehmann’s barrister during routine ‘cyber hygiene’, defamation trial hears

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Follow the day’s news live

The prime minister was asked about criticism that increased public spending is fuelling inflation.

Anthony Albanese pointed to two budget surpluses and said this, plus cost-of-living measures, are applying downward pressure:

Fee-free Tafe, cheaper childcare, energy price relief – all of these measures are aimed at making sure we look after people but do so in a way that’s designed to see inflation continuing to moderate, which is what we want to make sure happens.

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NSW waste industry faces crackdown on recycled soil after asbestos found in more than half facilities tested

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Exclusive: Watchdog says it ordered disposal of more than 600 tonnes of soil fill, fined three facilities and is considering ‘significant changes’ to rules following Guardian investigation

The New South Wales environment watchdog has vowed to crack down on the waste industry after new tests found asbestos at seven of 13 facilities producing or handling cheap landscaping products.

A 15-month Guardian Australia investigation revealed earlier this year that the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) had failed to act after compliance campaigns in 2013 and 2019 found potentially contaminated products had been distributed across the state – including at childcare centres, schools, residential areas and parks – thanks to widespread breaches by the industry.

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Australia news live: Linda Reynolds tells defamation trial she felt like a ‘punching clown on the fairground’ after social media posts by Higgins and Sharaz

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Follow the day’s news live

Wong endorses call from Blinken for de-escalation in Middle East

The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said she endorsed Antony Blinken’s call for de-escalation in the Middle East.

We continue to add our voice to the support for the ceasefire outlined by President Biden and endorsed by the security council.

Thank you for an incredibly productive day.

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Alleged bandit charged after stealing $600,000 worth of Bluey limited edition ‘dollarbucks’ in Sydney

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NSW police allege 63,000 coins featuring popular tv show character were stolen from a Sydney warehouse

An alleged Bluey coin bandit has been charged by New South Wales police for allegedly stealing over $600,000 worth of limited edition currency.

The Royal Australian Mint’s “dollarbucks” coin collection featured Bluey, alongside other characters on the popular tv show, as part of a special limited release.

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Australia news live: Wong ‘deeply concerned’ about escalation in Middle East; RBA interest rate decision due today

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Reserve bank’s two-day August meeting likely to leave key interest rate unchanged for a sixth straight gathering. Follow the day’s news live

Australia will join the US Global Entry program in 2025, creating an easier pathway for the hundreds of thousands of Australians who visit the country each year.

Eligible Australians who sign up for the program would benefit from streamlined and expedited immigration and customs clearance channels on arrival into the US, a statement from the foreign minister, Penny Wong, says.

Joining the Global Entry program is a mark of the closeness and the strength of the relationship between our two countries.

The foundation of the friendship between Australia and United States is the friendship between our people. This program will deepen these links and make it easier to foster greater commercial ties.

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NSW moves to outlaw asking tenants to pay for their own background checks on renter ‘blacklists’

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Minns government announces reforms to end practice of rental property platforms soliciting payments from applicants

Rental property application platforms would be prohibited from asking prospective tenants in New South Wales to pay for their own background checks under proposed new laws.

The Minns Labor government on Tuesday announced it would introduce the legislation after feedback from renters who said they were often told that paying these “optional charges” would increase their chance of securing a home.

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Senator gives evidence at defamation trial – as it happened

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This blog is now closed.

For more on this, Daniel Hurst looked into the issue yesterday. A spokesperson for the communications minister, Michelle Rowland, had said the government was “firmly committed to minimising harms from online wagering”.

The government continues to engage with stakeholders regarding the recommendations from the online wagering inquiry as we formulate our response.

I hope that’s not the case. I hope the long consultation is because the government’s actually going to do the right thing and make gambling ads history, just like we did with tobacco. We live in hope it’s not too late, but the rumors are not encouraging.

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Police legally detained 15-year-old terror suspect in hotel without lawyers knowing location, solicitor says

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Ahmed Dib says legal team spent three days trying to find boy who was held with his mother in western Sydney

Asio and federal police officers legally detained a 15-year-old terror suspect in a hotel for multiple days without charge and without his lawyers being aware of his location, his solicitor alleges.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was one of seven people arrested by the Joint Counter Terrorism Team in the aftermath of the high-profile stabbing of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel in April.

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‘A massive amount of drugs’: police in Sydney seize meth worth $828m allegedly hidden inside machinery

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Federal police charge 31-year-old man after drugs allegedly found in shipping container from US at Port Botany

An anonymous tipoff has allegedly led authorities to nearly $1bn worth of methamphetamine hidden in industrial machinery and destined for the Australian market.

Almost one tonne of the drug, commonly known as ice, was recovered from two large machines in a shipping container at Sydney’s Port Botany in July after being delivered from the US.

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