Category Archives: New South Wales

Scorching weather forecast for western Sydney, Melbourne and northern Victoria

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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.

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Victoria’s Squeaky beach beats famous Sydney and Queensland spots to be judged Australia’s best

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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.

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Greater glider put on path to extinction by NSW environmental watchdog, experts say

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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.

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ACCC to investigate supermarket sector – as it happened

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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.

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YouTuber Friendlyjordies takes down video after alleged death threats

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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”.

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NSW Liberals propose weakening unfair-dismissal protections under new industrial relations platform

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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.

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Sydney Harbour shark bite: NSW Ambulance apologises after staffer leaked photo of victim’s injuries

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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.

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New Zealand to be briefed on Aukus – as it happened

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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.

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Kurtley Beale trial: ‘convince him he is guilty’, alleged sexual assault victim wrote in taped call note

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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.

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Millions of Australians at risk of being stung by fire ants each year, experts warn

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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.

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Mayor issues flood warning – as it happened

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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.

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War crime accused seeks bail change to fly across Australia

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Oliver Jordan Schulz, who is accused of murder over the shooting of a young Afghan, applied for his bail conditions to be loosened

A former SAS soldier and accused war criminal requires assessment by police checking in on him while on bail because his military training presents a physical danger, a court has heard.

Oliver Jordan Schulz, 42, is expected to be able to fly to Perth to visit his lawyers after a bail variation hearing at Sydney’s Downing Centre local court on Monday.

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NSW watchdog failed to act on contamination risk despite ‘damning’ asbestos findings

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Exclusive: environmental regulator has known for more than a decade that contaminated soil fill might have been used in childcare centres, schools and parks

The New South Wales environmental regulator has known for more than a decade that producers of soil fill made from construction and demolition waste were failing to comply with rules to limit the spread of contaminants such as lead and asbestos into the community.

Internal documents from the Environment Protection Authority (EPA), obtained by Guardian Australia, warned widespread breaches by industry meant potentially contaminated product might have been applied to land across the state, including at childcare centres, residential areas, schools and parks.

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Billionaire Sydney property developer and philanthropist Lang Walker dies aged 78

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Family pays tribute to ‘visionary’ who ‘changed the lives of so many people’ through his building projects and donations

Billionaire Sydney property developer Lang Walker AO has died, aged 78.

In a statement released on Sunday, his family hailed Walker as a “devoted and loving husband, father and grandfather” and “visionary” who shaped postwar Australia with his expansive builds.

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NSW premier warns ‘pathetic’ neo-Nazis they will be exposed after attempted rally in Sydney park

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Gathering of at least 20 black-clad, masked men at Artarmon Reserve follows confrontation with police resulting in six arrests on Friday

The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has doubled down on his push to tighten anti-vilification laws after a group of neo-Nazis attempted to hold another rally in a public park on Sunday morning.

Police responded to the gathering of at least 20 black-clad, masked men who gathered at Artarmon Reserve at 9am on Sunday.

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Menindee fish kills: inconsistent pesticide levels sparks calls for review of water testing methods

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Experts call for review after two sets of water samples from the Darling-Baaka River reported by the state’s top scientific bodies contained different results

Experts are calling for more sensitive water quality testing in the Darling-Baaka River amid concerns that pesticides could be contributing to poor conditions, blue-green algae blooms and fish deaths.

It follows two of the state’s top scientific bodies publishing test results from water samples taken near Menindee in far western New South Wales which contained inconsistent results.

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Albanese condemns actions of balaclava-clad neo-Nazis arrested by police after swarming Sydney train

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Six members of the neo-Nazi group were arrested after dozens of men wearing black hoods and brandishing Australian flags were stopped at North Sydney station

Anthony Albanese has condemned the actions of a group of neo-Nazis, who wore black balaclavas while brandishing Australian flags when they swarmed a Sydney train on Friday, as “shocking” and having “no role in Australia”

The group of about 60 hooded men were seen at Artarmon station just before midday on Friday.

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Thousands rally in solidarity on Invasion Day in Melbourne, Sydney; AFL clubs call for 26 January date change – as it happened

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Australian and Aboriginal flags raised during Canberra ceremony

Following the welcome to country, the flag-raising ceremony has begun, with six flags raised including two Australian flags, two Aboriginal flags and two Torres Strait Islander flags.

Australia is home to the oldest continuous culture on Earth, 65,000 years of uninterrupted heritage, demonstrated by the unique archeological evidence found in the very ground that you may are sitting on, found in the rocks and stones of this very place. That makes this continent unique in the whole world.

Ngunnawal’s view of heritage transcends time, it is our way of being with nature, best expressed in the Ngunnawal language through the concepts of respect and deep honour, coming together in the wellbeing for all.

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Penrith council closes park over concern mulch could contain asbestsos

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Asbestos-like fragments found at newly-opened Regatta Park in Emu Plains sent for urgent testing, Penrith city council says

Penrith council has closed part of a park in western Sydney over fears it could contain asbestos-contaminated garden mulch from the same company that supplied the product used at Rozelle parklands.

Penrith city council says the newly opened Regatta Park at Emu Plains in the city’s west was partly closed after a review to determine if any mulch used by the council was provided by Greenlife Resource Recovery.

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Teenage girl dies after two boats collide at Sydney’s Grays Point

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Boating crash comes as at least 12 people are rescued from rips across beaches in three separate incidents on the NSW south coast

A teenage girl has died in hospital after being pulled from the water following a boating accident in southern Sydney.

The 16-year-old was rushed to St George Hospital after two boats collided at Grays Point in a horror start to the 26 January long weekend.

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