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‘Tumultuous’ coverage must not worsen post-3G, farmers say
Telcos face the ire of rural Australians if the 3G network shutdown goes awry and are being warned they will be held publicly accountable for any fallout, AAP reports.
Continue reading...Robert Geeves, who is accused of teenage mother’s murder, waited 14 days to report her missing, court hears
Any CCTV footage that might have captured Amber Haigh’s last movements was lost because it was a fortnight before she was reported missing, and days later before any vision was requested by police, the NSW supreme court has heard.
Prosecutors also argued in court that the vanished teenager was not reported missing by the father of her baby – the man now accused of her murder – until others raised concerns she had not been seen.
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Biden has been ‘a great fan of Australia’: Albanese
Anthony Albanese is speaking with ABC RN after Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the US presidential race.
The president has been a great fan of Australia. [A] very significant economic relationship has grown out our trade during his presidency … He’s someone who has stood up for values of social inclusion, and importantly as well for Australia and for the world he’s been a leading figure on climate action.
He was a gracious host to myself and Jodie during our state visit last year … [He] will continue to be over the coming months the most important leader in our globe. Of course, the United States is our most important ally.
The policies won’t change much. I mean, he’s obviously very interested in policies around tariffs and trade. I don’t think that will change much from his first term.
I think the challenge for us with with Donald Trump is to remind him that one of America’s unique advantages is its network of allies and partners and to make the maximum use of that. And there’s been great progress … in terms of Aukus [and] many groupings in the Indo-Pacific … and all these need to be sort of maintained and strengthened and that requires American leadership.
Continue reading...All inner-Sydney light rail lines are due to grind to a halt during peak hours from 8am to 10am and 4pm to 6pm from Monday to Friday
Sydney commuters are expected to face major peak-hour disruption for an entire week with light rail workers shutting down tram services over pay and conditions.
All inner-Sydney light rail lines are due to grind to a halt during peak hours from 8am to 10am and 4pm to 6pm, from Monday to Friday, after the union decided to ramp up its industrial action.
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Emergency meetings to assess IT outage fallout
Further emergency meetings will be held to examine the fallout of a global IT outage in Australia, AAP reports.
We are still in recovery stage … there is still more work to do to make sure that the residual issues arising from this outage are able to be addressed.
There will be opportunity in time to reflect on what’s occurred over the last couple of days, whether it exposes vulnerabilities that we are able to address.
Continue reading...Police say pram carrying two two-year-old girls rolled off platform at Carlton train station and they were treating it as an accident
A child and a man have died after a pram rolled from a railway platform on to train tracks in Sydney’s south on Sunday.
Police were called to Carlton station shortly before 12.30pm after reports a pram carrying two children had rolled off the platform.
Continue reading...Police say the 37-year-old man and a friend had shared a pizza and were walking to a friend’s house in Guildford when three masked men attacked them
A man has died after being stabbed when he was allegedly attacked by a group of masked men in broad daylight in Sydney’s west on Saturday afternoon.
It was the second alleged stabbing death in Sydney on Saturday after a 15-year-old was charged with murder over an unrelated incident earlier in the day.
Continue reading...A massive dump of snow on Friday night has continued into Saturday, bringing ‘super thick fresh powder snow’ to alpine areas
Christmas in July has finally arrived for ski resorts this weekend as the first widespread snowfall of the season blankets parts of Australia’s south-east, bringing more than 50cm falls in popular tourist destinations.
David Clark, destination marketing manager for Mt Buller and Mt Stirling ski lifts, said the snow “just keeps coming”.
Continue reading...Judy Deacon will lead a Sydney rally to press her case that police no longer be sent as first responders in mental health emergencies
A year ago to the day, Judy Deacon got a call to head to the police station.
The 80-year-old expected the issue to be that her son, Jesse, had been hospitalised again. But on her way there, she got a phone call from Jesse’s father. He was crying, and as soon as she heard the tears, she knew her son had died, she said.
Continue reading...Bureau of Meteorology predicts strong winds for SA, NSW and Victoria that will make temperatures feel colder than what is forecast
Bitter winds and rain are in store for the south-east coast and South Australia over the weekend thanks to a cold front that could also herald the heavy snow ski resorts have been hoping for.
The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting strong, gusty and potentially damaging winds and showers, local thunderstorms and strong, abnormally high tides.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed. Follow the latest developments on the global Microsoft outage live blog
Shorten says last CFMEU Labor donation was over two years ago
Earlier on the Today Show, the NDIS minister, Bill Shorten, was asked about the CFMEU and said that the last donation received by the Labor party from them was more than two years ago.
We’ve said that we’re suspending all donations from the CFMEU. In fact, we’ve suspended the CFMEU from the Labor party … The last donations were over two years ago. We’ve taken the action to stop any financial relations with the CFMEU.
I want to make clear there is zero tolerance for anyone who tried to subvert the demerit and penalty system. This taskforce will help ensure the penalties apply to all road users.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Rideshare company failed to gather evidence that driver with near-perfect rating had breached its code of conduct, tribunal finds
Uber has been ordered to pay $10,000 in damages to an Australian driver after it permanently banned him from working due to a passenger complaint but failed to gather evidence that he had breached its code of conduct.
The ruling from the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal related to Uber’s conduct when terminating the driver’s account af a trip in last August.
Continue reading...Paul Harding tells court Haigh had recalled to him having her hands tied ‘together at the wrist’
Amber Haigh said she was tied up by the man accused of her murder and questioned by him during sex, after he claimed to have video of her having sex with her third cousin, a court has heard.
Haigh was a 19-year-old mother when she vanished from the New South Wales Riverina in June 2002, leaving behind her five-month-old son.
Continue reading...Law Enforcement Conduct Commission makes two findings of serious misconduct including for allegedly leaving crash scene in NorthConnex ‘to avoid being breath-tested’
The New South Wales police watchdog has made two findings of “serious misconduct” against a high-ranking detective who crashed a work car while allegedly drunk in the NorthConnex tunnel in May 2023.
The police officer, whose identity is secret due to a 40-year court order, pleaded not guilty in December to charges of driving under the influence of alcohol and high-range drink-driving, nearly seven months after the incident happened last May.
Continue reading...Fair Work Commission’s Murray Furlong appointed as administrator of construction union. Follow the day’s news live
Tim Ayres flags ‘proportionate’ federal response to CFMEU
A Labor senator says that federal intervention into alleged criminal behaviour within the CFMEU will be effective and proportionate, AAP reports.
Tony and the team in there are doing the careful work of making sure that the government’s response is effective, well-weighted and effective.
While I don’t forecast the debates in terms of the national executive, we have received these requests from the premiers, we will act upon them, and we’ll act in accordance with the requests from the premiers.
We’re very blessed in this country. We don’t have a gun culture, we don’t have a history of political violence, we don’t at this point in time – thank God – have the fragmentation and polarisation that sadly exists in America to quite the same extent.
So look, can you rule these things out? Of course not. Do I expect it? Well, maybe some time in the next 100 or 200 years, sure. Almost anything could happen in that period of time. But is is imminent? I doubt it very much.
Continue reading...Footage taken at a tourist lodge in Scenic Rim shows a brief snow flurry, the area’s first since 2015
A rare and short-lived dusting of snow has fallen on parts of Queensland and northern New South Wales, surprising residents in high-altitude border areas on Tuesday as Australia’s south-east shivered through a windy and wet start to the week.
Video footage taken at Spicers Peak Lodge at the Scenic Rim, west of the Gold Coast in famously sunny Queensland, showed snow flurries on Tuesday morning.
Continue reading...Premier says he has written to NSW Labor general secretary requesting immediate suspension of party’s affiliation to CFMEU’s construction and general division
The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has asked for the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union’s (CFMEU) affiliation with the state Labor party to be immediately suspended and donations and fees to be stopped after further allegations against its leadership.
The Labor leader lashed the union early on Wednesday morning after Nine newspapers published a video allegedly capturing the NSW union boss Darren Greenfield being passed a $5000 cash bundle in a suspected kickback deal.
Continue reading...Government will also overhaul state laws after Guardian Australia uncovered serious problems with biodiversity offsets scheme
The New South Wales government says the state’s biodiversity is in crisis and must be put on a path to recovery to reverse the decline of beloved species and ecosystems.
The environment minister, Penny Sharpe, has released the government’s “first steps” in responding to a major review of the state’s nature laws, saying: “We cannot ignore the truth: biodiversity in NSW is in crisis.”
Introducing legislation next year to enshrine a new state nature strategy with conservation and restoration targets;
Amending laws this year to reform the state’s offsets scheme;
Developing maps that identify current and future areas of high biodiversity value to give “clear guidance” on where environmental impacts should be avoided;
Reviewing other pieces of legislation that affect biodiversity to improve outcomes for the environment.
Continue reading...Maurice Hawell, his brother Marius Hawell and Andrew David were convicted after the February 2022 incidents involving three teenage women
Three men have been found guilty of luring three women to be gang-raped in an apartment they were renting in Newcastle for a buck’s party weekend.
Maurice Hawell, 30, his brother Marius Hawell, 22, and Andrew David, 30, have faced an almost four-week-long trial in Sydney’s Downing Centre district court.
Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html
Continue reading...New peak may be challenged as early as Tuesday evening as mid-winter bites in Melbourne
The wintry blast sweeping across eastern Australia has set a record for electricity demand in Victoria and propelled wind generation in New South Wales to new highs, with energy authorities preparing for another power peak on Tuesday evening.
Victoria broke a 17-year record for maximum winter electricity demand, with the tally reaching 8,612 megawatts at 6pm on Monday, the Australian Energy Market Operator said.
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