Category Archives: New South Wales

‘Largest ever’ NSW coalmine plan will put pressure on state’s net zero target, watchdog says

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EPA says proposal to keep Hunter Valley Operations mines going to 2050 would release almost 30m tonnes of CO2

The New South Wales environment watchdog says a plan to extend the life of a Hunter Valley coal-mining complex to 2050 is the “largest coal-mining proposal ever put forward” in the state.

Plans by Yancoal and Glencore to keep its joint-venture Hunter Valley Operations (HVO) mines in the Upper Hunter region going would see almost 30m tonnes of CO2 released, the EPA said in Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

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Origin Energy offered to sell Eraring power station to NSW government for $544m

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Exclusive: Documents reveal offer was made three years before Origin and government reached deal to keep Australia’s biggest coal-fired power station open

Origin Energy offered to sell its Eraring power station to the New South Wales government for more than half a billion dollars before announcing it would close the plant in August 2025, a document now made public reveals.

The energy company, which last week announced a pact with the government to keep the nation’s biggest coal-fired power station open for at least another two years, had offered to sell back the privatised facility for $544m during negotiations in 2021.

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Australia politics live: government has discretion over acting on ICC arrest warrants, officials say

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Meanwhile, government to rewrite visa cancellation rules after independent tribunal gave non-citizens with serious criminal convictions their visas back. Follow the day’s news live

Andrew Giles was asked why he wasn’t told about what was happening with his directive in the tribunals – why there weren’t meetings to receive updates.

He said there were meetings with his department which were taking place “pretty regularly”.

What has been unacceptable is the fact that these AAT decisions to set aside cancellations that were made under section 99 that were made by this government by my department – we were not advised, I was not told that these cancellations had been overturned by the tribunal.

That’s the issue that I’m deeply concerned about. And that’s what I’m focusing on fixing now.

There are around 30 that I’ve called up as a matter of absolute urgency and they are dealt with through the day and night.

I’m gonna get to the bottom of this – a protocol that I put in place was not adhered to, that is entirely unsatisfactory. As I said, I’m now focused on dealing with the urgent issue which is the cancellation consideration, I put in place a new protocol and I want to get to the bottom of what happened and why.

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NSW inquiry urges government to ditch big four firms for ‘in-house’ consultancy by public service

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Banning bureaucrats from taking related consulting jobs for six months post-public service among inquiry’s 28 recommendations

The New South Wales government has been urged to set up an “in-house” consulting service and ban bureaucrats from taking on relevant consulting jobs for six months after they leave the public service.

A NSW parliamentary inquiry into the use of private consulting services by government made the recommendations after it found the former Coalition government was too reliant on consultants and paid for work normally designed for the public service when it was in power.

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MP urges colleagues not to use Gaza as ‘opportunity to gain votes’ – as it happened

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WA shooter’s daughter says police ‘ignored’ warnings

Social services minister Amanda Rishworth has been asked about the powerful statement Ariel Bombara released yesterday, claiming Western Australian police had “ignored” warnings from her and her mother that their lives were under threat.

By that point we felt completely helpless and I had to focus on getting mum to safety. I did everything I could to protect my mother, and when my father couldn’t find us he murdered her best friend and her best friend’s daughter.

Rents have surged in Australia’s capital cities, with only 5.9% of city overall rentals now costing less than $400 a week.

At the start of the pandemic, one in five house rentals in Sydney cost less than $400 a week – that figure is now one in 50.

In Melbourne, one in 25 house rentals now costs less than $400.

The national share of rentals available under $400 dropped by one third annually to just 10.4%.

ACT had the smallest share of properties listed to rent under $400 at 2.1%, followed by Sydney (3.8%) and Perth (5.6%).

Melbourne saw the largest annual decline in the share of houses listed for less than $400 a week, followed by Adelaide and Sydney.

In regional markets, only 16.3% per cent of houses were advertised for under $400 a week in April.

Regional WA (14.8%) had the smallest portion of homes listed to rent below $400 of the regions, followed by regional Queensland (15.8%) and regional NSW (21.5%).

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Fewer than 10% of sexual assaults reported to NSW police end in a conviction, report finds

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Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research study finds no legal action was taken in about 85% of reported sexual assault incidents

Only 8% of contemporary child sexual assault incidents reported to New South Wales police end in a conviction, according to a Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research report released on Tuesday.

The number is lower for reported historic sexual assault incidents (7%) and lower again for reported adult sexual assault incidents (6%).

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Australia politics live: cabinet ‘crafting the offer’ for next election, PM tells caucus; transport department boss quizzed over Taylor Swift shirt

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Anthony Albanese reminds his colleagues that government now in the final 12 months of its first term. Follow the day’s news live

‘Last 24 hours only reinforces need’ for immediate humanitarian ceasefire, return of hostages and aid access, Conroy says

Pat Conroy was also asked about Israel’s assault on a refugee camp for displaced Palestinians in Rafah.

Well, we’re incredibly concerned by what we saw in Rafah. And that’s why we’ve been continuing to call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. We’ve also called for an immediate return of all hostages that Hamas have taken. And the immediate opening of access so we can get massive amounts of humanitarian support into the Gaza. So immediate humanitarian ceasefire, release of hostages and immediate flow of aid is critical. That’s the Australian government’s position and you’re absolutely right, what we’ve seen overnight or over the last 24 hours only reinforces the need for those three things.

No, to be quite frank, we don’t. The Papua New Guinean government has asked the UN agencies to coordinate partner countries and those assessments are going on right now. But this is an incredibly inaccessible part of Papua New Guinea. And it’s a really challenging process for everyone.

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Clover Moore to seek record sixth term as lord mayor of Sydney

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Moore, who has been in the job for past 20 years, says she would focus on climate change, affordable homes and green spaces after election

Sydney’s lord mayor, Clover Moore, will seek a record sixth term later this year, promising voters she would continue to focus on climate change, affordable homes, green spaces and revitalising city precincts.

The longstanding independent politician said she was “energised” about the work still ahead when she announced her re-election run on Tuesday.

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Accused killer told Charlise Mutten’s mother kidnappers would kill her daughter if she called police, court hears

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Kallista Mutten tells court Justin Stein beat her when they came home to find her daughter missing

Accused murderer Justin Stein bashed the mother of then-missing schoolgirl Charlise Mutten and told her not to call police or the girl’s kidnappers would kill her, a court has heard.

The body of nine-year-old Charlise was found by police in a barrel by the Blue Mountains’ Colo River on 18 January 2022 with gunshot wounds to her face and back.

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Australia news live: aged care Covid vaccination rates ‘disappointingly low’, chief medical officer warns

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Malinauskas can’t ‘overstate the complexity’ of Aukus endeavour

Peter Malinauskas said his visit to the United States “unequivocally” confirmed what a massive challenge it will be to develop a workforce of 30,000 at the Osborne shipyard to build nuclear-powered submarines.

I don’t think I could possibly overstate the complexity of the task that is before us, simply because it is the most complex machine that has ever been built in human history.

And that is everything from developing the skills that are required at a vocational level but also the university level, but similarly making sure that we’re starting to upskill existing parts of the naval shipbuilding supply chain, amongst others who can participate in this process. And South Australia industry alone has got more than enough work on its hands for me to be able to say, as a premier, [it’s] time to sort of abandon the parochial nature of industrial policy we see between states around defence and instead invite everyone to lift their eyes and look what is important for the national effort in this regard.

We know that building nuclear submarines is going to take a national enterprise and a national effort, but our ambitions to be able to build these submarines domestically requires a supply chain and an industry that are capable of delivering the parts that are required.

Now, in order to be able to do that, I think as a first big step – we’ve got to see if we can’t participate in the nuclear submarine supply chain in advance of the … Aukus submarines construction commencing later this decade. So, what we’ve negotiated with [HII], that builds the Virginia class submarines, is an opportunity for South Australian suppliers to supply to the Virginia class program.

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‘Enormously exciting’ fossils found in NSW opal field suggest Australia had ‘age of monotremes’

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Discovery of ‘echidnapus’ and two more species show the furry egg-layers predated marsupials

Some time about 100m years ago in what is now an Australian opal field, a weird, furry, egg-laying, rabbit-sized mammal was gliding through a waterhole across a massive polar floodplain.

This mammal – Opalius splendens but which scientists have thankfully blessed with the nickname “echidnapus” – was among the ancient descendants of one of the planet’s most unique orders of animals, the monotremes.

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Public housing regularly being offered to people on NSW waitlist who have died

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Exclusive: Data reveals that 77 people died before being offered public housing between April 2019 and March this year

At least one person has died every month before finally being offered public housing in New South Wales, new data has revealed.

Data provided to Guardian Australia after a freedom of information request shows that between April 2019 and March this year, 77 people who had already died were offered housing. This included 12 people in 2020 and 2021, 17 in 2022 and 11 in 2023.

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We tested landscaping supplies on sale in Sydney stores for asbestos – it came back positive

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Exclusive: Independent testing of recycled soil fill for sale finds two of four samples would not meet legislated thresholds, and one contained asbestos

Asbestos has been found in recycled soil fill for sale in New South Wales landscape and garden stores, more than a decade after investigators first raised concerns about contamination.

Guardian Australia bought four products at Sydney landscape supply shops and had samples analysed by accredited private laboratories.

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More than 5,000 feral horses culled in Kosciuszko national park since aerial shooting resumed

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Conservationist says for first time number of animals removed exceeds annual population growth

More than 5,000 feral horses have been culled since the recommencement of aerial shooting in the Kosciuszko national park, with the NSW environment minister, Penny Sharpe, describing the number as proof of the need to control the threat the animals pose to the alpine wilderness.

Conservationists said for the first time the number of horses removed from the park would exceed the annual growth in horse populations, giving hope that a major threat for under-pressure ecosystems was starting to be addressed.

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‘They couldn’t care less’: fears for dogs’ welfare as Greyhound Racing NSW axes one of two adoption centres

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Staff raise concerns as Wyee rehoming centre abruptly closed after steep drop in gambling revenue for governing body

Current and former staff have raised serious concerns about animal welfare and the culture at the agency that governs greyhound racing in New South Wales after it abruptly shut down one of just two adoption centres for ex-racing dogs this week.

Workers at the Greyhound Adoption Program (GAP) in Wyee were fired on Monday, the same day the Greyhound Racing New South Wales (GRNSW) chief executive, Rob Macaulay, announced the agency would cut 30% from its budget in the next financial year after a 22.5% fall in gambling revenue.

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Australia news live: students at two universities pack up pro-Palestine camps; Queensland rejects carbon capture project over aquifer fears

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Taiwan interested in critical-minerals trade with Australia

Taiwan’s representative to Australia, Douglas Hsu, spoke to ABC RN just earlier about China’s military drills around Taiwan and trading with Australia.

We will continue to show our interest in engaging with Australia on the trade front. I think in the past few months, especially on critical minerals, I had a few opportunities to travel to West Australia and Northern Territory to talk with the businessman in the critical minerals industries.

I found that well, first of all, I was very surprised or impressed by the scale of Australia’s mining industry, and we’ll definitely look forward to bringing more Taiwanese business to work even more closely with Australian partners.

It’s really about ensuring services can do early work that can stop children from experiencing harm, helping kids before they get to crisis point and intervening early to break that cycle of violence and abuse.

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Jarrad Antonovich inquest halted for potential criminal charges over death at NSW spiritual retreat

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Coroner suspends inquest into death of man who consumed ayahuasca and frog toxin kambo at the Dreaming Arts festival at Arcoora in 2021

An inquest into the death of a man after taking poison and hallucinogens has been suspended after a coroner found there could be enough evidence for charges to be laid.

Jarrad Antonovich died of a perforated oesophagus after consuming the plant-based psychedelic ayahuasca and frog-based poison kambo at the Dreaming Arts festival at Arcoora retreat in northern NSW on 16 October 2021.

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NSW LGBTQ+ domestic violence centre turns to sausage sizzles to meet funding gap

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Inner City Legal Centre among rising number of community organisations forced to raise money so victims don’t fall through the cracks

The only New South Wales domestic violence centre that offers legal assistance to the LGBTQ+ community has been forced to raise funds through Bunnings sausage sizzles to keep their program afloat amid an uptick in demand for assistance.

Legal centres across Australia say they are struggling to meet increasing demand and and are seeing victim-survivors fall through the cracks because of a shortfall in funding. Some centres say they are wary of advertising their services because they don’t know if they will have to turn people away.

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Accounting firm controlled by Exclusive Brethren church to close after extraordinary ATO raid

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It is not known if decision to shutter division of secretive sect’s umbrella company has any link to raid reportedly conducted ‘without prior notice’

The accounting firm controlled by the secretive Exclusive Brethren church has announced it will close after an extraordinary raid conducted by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

Universal Business Team’s Australian accounting division, known as UBTA, sent an email to clients on Wednesday advising them that its accounting division would close.

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Australia politics live: Ed Husic says Coalition position on ICC arrest warrants is ‘staggering’; Plibersek in rogue microphone mishap during Sky News interview

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Labor minister says Peter Dutton’s opposition ‘wants to pick what law and order it’ll follow’

Ed Husic details government’s new battery strategy

The industry and science minister, Ed Husic, has been speaking to ABC RN about the government’s newly unveiled national battery strategy. As Karen Middleton reports, the strategy is aimed at turning Australia from a “dig-and-ship” economy that sells off its critical minerals into a powerhouse manufacturer of better and safer renewable energy storage.

China is obviously the biggest producer [and] a lot of countries are recognising that their dependency on that concentrated supply chain isn’t in [their] national interest longer-term. If there are disruptions to that supply, either accidental or otherwise, we’re left vulnerable and these are in terms of the batteries themselves – they’re complex in nature. It’s also driven by software, so we need to have safe and secure batteries, energy storage systems, longer term.

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