Police charge 28-year-old over alleged criminal cell plan to murder members of Sydney rap group
A third member of an alleged criminal cell allegedly hired to kill gang rivals is being held by police.
Police believe the group is behind multiple contract kidnappings and a plan to target Sydney-based drill rap group OneFour.
Continue reading...Man succumbs to serious injury suffered during fall while skiing, with paramedics declaring him dead at the scene
Police say the death of a man while waterskiing at an annual event on the Victoria-NSW border is a tragedy that will affect the community for months to come.
It was the sixth fatal accident at the Southern 80 waterski race since 2006.
Continue reading...The species can climb waterfalls and reaches back to Gondwanaland – but there are fears polluted runoff has proven fatal
A “miracle fish” may have been snuffed out in its Sydney habitat by bungled construction work at a nearby government high school, local environmentalists fear.
The climbing galaxias (Galaxias brevipinnis) belongs to a species line reaching back to Gondwanaland. It was only identified in the Manly Dam region in Sydney’s north – the fish’s most northerly known location in Australia – in 1998.
Continue reading...Two of the biggest Aboriginal groups in NSW claim racism is ‘rife’ in the child protection system, which needs an overhaul
Pressure is growing for the New South Wales government to review its out-of-home care providers after it was revealed in court that a faith-based service refused to assess an Aboriginal kinship carer because of her sexual orientation.
The call comes as two of the biggest Aboriginal organisations in NSW claim racism in the child protection system is “rife” and closing the gap measures to reduce the number of Aboriginal children taken into care will fail unless the Minns government overhauls the sector.
Continue reading...Legislation banning the use of the devices, which have been linked to deaths in custody, passes in NSW with cross-party support
Advocates are calling for a nationwide ban on spit hoods – which have been linked to deaths in custody – after New South Wales became the second state to outlaw the use of the restraint devices.
The Ban Spit Hoods Coalition, which works to end the use of the fabric device which is placed over people’s heads in custodial settings, said spit hoods were an unacceptable threat to human life and dignity and that all states and territories should follow the lead of NSW and South Australia, with the latter state the first to ban its use in 2021.
Continue reading...The SES rescued three people from flood waters as the tropical low moved south over the Queensland border, with more wet weather forecast
New South Wales was lashed with torrential rain in the early hours of Tuesday, and three people were rescued from flood waters in their cars, as ex-tropical cyclone Kirrily moved across the state.
After wreaking havoc in Queensland, the ex-tropical cyclone crossed the border into western NSW on Monday afternoon, bringing heavy rainfall and flash flooding to inland communities, before reaching Sydney around 5am and bringing 21mm of rain and localised flash flooding.
Continue reading...Labor to create legal pathway for council demergers after forced amalgamations by former Coalition government
New South Wales mega-councils will be forced to pay for their own demergers, in a move likely to anger local governments that have long been advocating for the state government to stump up cash and allow forced amalgamations to be reversed.
The Minns government will on Tuesday introduce legislation to parliament to create a legal pathway to demergers for councils, including Sydney’s Inner West, that wish to split – but it has made it clear it won’t be footing the bill.
Continue reading...The 57-year-old allegedly threw a silkie bantam chook known as Betty White into alligator pen, shocking onlookers at Oakvale Farm and Fauna World
A man accused of throwing a chicken known as Betty White into an alligator pen in front of shocked families at a popular NSW wildlife park has indicated he’ll plead not guilty to animal cruelty.
The case against Peter William Smith, 57, of Singleton, was briefly mentioned in Raymond Terrace local court on Monday.
Continue reading...Former Wallaby has pleaded not guilty and denies sexually assaulting woman at Beach Road Hotel in December 2022
A woman aired allegations she was assaulted by the rugby star Kurtley Beale with her fiance’s family during a trip intended for wedding-dress shopping, a court has heard.
Beale, 35, is facing one count of sexual intercourse without consent and two counts of sexual touching in the NSW district court, following the alleged incident at Bondi’s Beach Road hotel in December 2022.
Continue reading...Heatwave warnings as ex-Tropical Cyclone Kirrily continues to dump heavy rain across parts of outback Queensland
Much of southern Queensland and eastern New South Wales will be gripped by heatwave conditions over the weekend as western Sydney and Melbourne brace for temperatures in the high 30s on Sunday.
Ex-tropical cyclone Kirrily has continued to dump heavy rain across parts of outback Queensland but the system was forecast to track south, taking a route across NSW, before finally leaving the continent on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Wilson’s Promontory beach is the first Victorian site to top Tourism Australia’s list, which celebrates coastal spots
It’s not the famous sands of Bondi, the surf mecca of Bells, or the pristine white stretches along the Great Barrier Reef – but Squeaky beach in Victoria has been named the best in Australia.
Named for the under-foot sound of its quartz sand, the Wilson’s Promontory beach is close to the most southerly point of mainland Australia.
Continue reading...Ecologists condemn watchdog decision, accusing it of making reckless changes to allow easier logging of state forests containing glider habitat
NSW’s environmental watchdog has put the endangered greater glider on a fast track to extinction by watering down logging protections, experts say.
Ecologists from WWF-Australia and Wilderness Australia have condemned the watchdog, accusing it of making reckless changes so Forestry Corporation can more easily log state forests.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed.
BoM issues wind weather warning for Tasmania
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for damaging winds in parts of Tasmania.
Australia has a very important role to play as a signatory to the ICJ, a signatory to the genocide convention, to ensure the protection of Palestinian civilians and ensure that the investigations that are occurring with UNRWA … don’t inhibit funding and delivery of services that are going to basically save lives in coming days and weeks and months.
UNRWA has done the right thing in standing down the staff, sacking them. They have got an independent investigation occurring. 150 UN UNRWA staff have been killed, their families and children as well, over the past several months of this conflict. The UN is in the middle, sandwiched in the conflict, trying to do its best to save lives. Donor governments like Australia need to bear this in mind that, if funding ceases, there is nowhere else to turn to. People will simply collapse and die.
Continue reading...Jordan Shanks-Markovina says he removed 2022 video because he did not want the ‘death of innocent people’ on his conscience
The prominent YouTuber Jordan Shanks-Markovina says death threats have forced him to take down a 2022 video on the development company Coronation Property.
Shanks-Markovina, who posts under the name Friendlyjordies, said in a statement that he removed the video, Coronation, because he did not want the “death of innocent people” to “hang on our conscience”.
Continue reading...The policy platform, to be considered later this month, also seeks to abandon annual wage rises for middle and high income earners on award safety nets
The New South Wales Liberals are set to adopt an industrial relations policy to water down unfair-dismissal protections and abandon annual wage rises for middle and high income earners on award safety nets.
The policy, to be considered at the state council annual general meeting later in February, is an ambitious blueprint for reforms to the federal Fair Work Act likely to spark a hostile reaction from unions over weakening worker protections.
Continue reading...Family of Lauren O’Neill told ‘we believe a NSW Ambulance staff member was responsible’ for leak after St Vincent’s hospital launched investigation
A New South Wales ambulance staff member is responsible for leaking an image of a shark bite victim’s injuries from inside the hospital, the state’s health department has revealed.
NSW Ambulance said in a statement on Thursday afternoon it had apologised to the family of Lauren O’Neill over the incident.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is speaking to ABC RN, and says news that the inflation rate has plunged to a two-year low of 4.1% is “welcoming, encouraging progress”.
… We know that people are still under pressure and we need to not be complacent about it. We need to continue to work as we have with our three point plan, having the surplus, making sure we deal with cost of living pressures without putting pressure on inflation, and dealing with … supply-chain issues as well.
With parliament resuming next week, this is a wake-up call that 2024 is the last chance for meaningful democratic reform ahead of the 2025 election …
Australians should go to the next election with strict political donation disclosure laws, truth in political advertising laws in force and information about who’s meeting ministers made public as a matter of course.
Continue reading...Rugby union star has pleaded not guilty and denies sexually assaulting woman at Beach Road Hotel in December 2022
A woman accusing rugby star Kurtley Beale of rape made hand-written notes to herself before confronting him with the allegations in a secretly recorded phone call, a court has heard.
One of the notes mentioned trying to “convince him he is guilty and not innocent”, the court heard on Thursday.
Continue reading...Inquiry into invasive pest hears of risks species poses to health, agriculture and environment if it becomes endemic
Fire ants could sting 8.6 million Australians a year if they were to become endemic – but a pathogenic fungus and pesticide-loaded drones might help avert that scenario, according to submissions posed to the federal government’s fire ants inquiry.
Submissions to the Senate inquiry into red imported fire ants (Rifa) in Australia closed on Monday, just days after the latest in a string of fire ant detections beyond south-east Queensland, where an infestation of the invasive pest is ongoing.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed.
We’ve just spoken to St Vincent’s hospital and confirmed that the woman bitten by a shark in Sydney Harbour last night remains in hospital in a stable condition.
The woman, in her late 20s, was bitten on the right leg by a suspected bull shark in Elizabeth Bay last night.
Continue reading...