Category Archives: New South Wales

Josh Murray made donation to NSW transport minister’s campaign before she appointed him as secretary

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Emails released to parliament show former Labor staffer made $500 donation to Jo Haylen’s campaign before party won election

The New South Wales transport secretary, Josh Murray, made a donation to Jo Haylen’s campaign before she picked the former Labor staffer to lead her department.

Limited details of the $500 donation were contained in emails that were released to parliament between members of Haylen’s team discussing talking points related to the appointment of the secretary.

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Firefighters fear being ‘overwhelmed’ by rise in battery fires after fatal Sydney blaze

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A NSW fire and rescue superintendent said the death of a man in a Sydney fire on Saturday night was part of a ‘marked increase’ in such incidents

Firefighters say they fear being ‘“overwhelmed” by increasing numbers of battery fires, after the death of a Sydney man in a house fire on Saturday night was linked to toxic smoke from burning lithium batteries.

The 54-year-old man was eating downstairs in his Punchbowl unit in Sydney’s west with two women when the fire broke out. He tried to extinguish the blaze with a fire extinguisher, but when firefighters arrived he was found unconscious on his bathroom floor with soot on his mouth, having inhaled toxic smoke.

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NSW surfer bitten by great white shark faces further surgery and long rehabilitation, family says

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Father-of-two Toby Begg, 44, is in a serious but stable condition in hospital following serious injuries ‘from his hip to calf and lower legs’

A surfer bitten by a great white shark at a Port Macquarie beach on Friday faces “many surgeries and has years of rehabilitation ahead of him”, his family has said as he recovers in hospital.

Father-of-two Toby Begg, 44, was attacked by the great white, estimated at 4m long, as he surfed at Lighthouse beach on Friday morning.

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NSW shark attack: surfer in critical condition fought off great white before swimming to shore

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Police say the man reportedly tried to fight the shark for 30 seconds at Port Macquarie’s Lighthouse beach

A surfer at a New South Wales beach fought off a great white shark and swam back to shore while suffering from serious leg injuries, police say.

The 44-year-old man was in hospital in a critical condition on Friday night after he was bitten by a shark at Lighthouse beach at 10am in Port Macquarie in northern NSW.

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Death of 1,000 crayfish in Blue Mountains under investigation by EPA

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Environment Protection Authority believes a pollution incident caused the event and are working with city council to identify the toxicant

The deaths of about 1,000 giant spiny crayfish are being investigated by the Environment Protection Authority in a likely pollution incident in the Blue Mountains this week.

Hundreds of dead crayfish were found in a tributary of Hazelbrook Creek, near Horseshoe Falls, on Wednesday by a tour guide.

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New Icac powers spark concerns as NSW opposition flags move to stop ‘reckless’ change

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Complaints from Liberals and some crossbench MPs come after watchdog asked to use illegally obtained recordings in ongoing investigation

Special powers handed to the New South Wales corruption watchdog to use illegally obtained recordings have been described as “concerning”, with the opposition and members of the crossbench vowing to try to stop them from proceeding.

The government granted the powers to the Independent Commission Against Corruption on Wednesday to assist it with an ongoing investigation in response to a request from its chief commissioner, John Hatzistergos.

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Icac given power to use illegally obtained recordings in NSW corruption investigations

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State government grants new power to assist watchdog after request from chief commissioner John Hatzistergos

The New South Wales corruption watchdog has been granted the power to use in its investigations recordings that have been obtained illegally by third parties.

The state government on Wednesday gave the Independent Commission Against Corruption the new power to assist it with an ongoing investigation after a request from its chief commissioner, John Hatzistergos.

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NSW government department ‘refusing’ to publish community feedback on shark nets

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Greens MP says it is ‘unacceptable’ that results not made public as Minns government faces calls to abandon nets

The New South Wales Department of Primary Industries has kept hidden the results of surveys it conducted to gauge community opinion on shark nets, as the government forges ahead with the controversial deterrence strategy.

The department has not published the surveys for the past two years and has not released the results to two upper house MPs, environmentalists and Sydney’s Randwick council despite their requests for them.

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Investment in new Australian wind and solar farms stalls amid ‘raft of barriers’, report finds

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First half of year had slowest pace of final approvals in Clean Energy Council’s six years of tracking, but backing for power storage was more promising

Investment in new wind and solar farms has all but stalled with developers facing a “raft of barriers” despite strong political support, the Clean Energy Council said in its latest quarterly report.

The first half of 2023 produced the slowest pace of final investment approvals in the council’s six years of data tracking. Just four generation projects accounting for 348 megawatts – or roughly the size of a single coal-fired power station unit – secured financial commitment in the June quarter.

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NSW police watchdog to oversee investigation into arrest of Indigenous man with disability in Taree

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Teenager remains in custody and faces seven charges, including hindering or resisting a police officer

The New South Wales police watchdog will oversee an investigation into the violent arrest in Taree last week of a handcuffed Aboriginal teenager with a disability.

The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC), an independent watchdog that has oversight of NSW police, has confirmed it is involved in the force’s internal inquiry and that police have received a serious misconduct complaint about the incident.

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Senator responds to report – as it happened

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Conroy says comments at Labor conference about strategic balance in Pacific

Conroy is asked about comments he made at the Labor conference, saying it is against Australia’s interest to have one power dominate our region, especially one that breaches international laws.

And is it your view that China is trying to do that, dominate our region?

I’m not going to be going into what other countries are doing but it’s clear that we’re seeing great strategic competition in our region, and it’s appropriate that we respond through increased diplomatic engagement and an increasing deterrence in the Australian Defence Force.

They all play complementary roles in promoting peace and stability in our [region].

So this is about peace and stability in our region by deterring conflict and I know you will respond that saying, well, aren’t we just engaging in military buildup, but in the end, the only way we pursue peace and stability is by presenting strength. This is what this is about.

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Australian police rejected Fifa requests for Gianni Infantino to be escorted during World Cup travel

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Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria police turned down request for escort for Fifa president, which is normally reserved for foreign heads of state

Fifa asked Australian police in multiple jurisdictions to provide escorts for president Gianni Infantino during his travel for the Women’s World Cup, but was turned down.

Infantino asked Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales police to provide him with escorts, the Guardian has confirmed.

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NSW splits planning and environment mega department – as it happened

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Labor Against War convener: PM ‘running scared’ from rank and file on Aukus

The Labor Against War national convener, Marcus Strom, says the prime minister is “running scared” from the rank and file members of Labor, who he says don’t want the Aukus deal.

Many of us hoped it would be put in the pile of bad Scott Morrison ideas but it was embraced.

And it’s been doubled down on and this has been done without a proper conversation with the Australian people and today delegates won’t even get a chance to remove Aukus from the national platform.

Imagine the jobs we could be creating in housing, in health, in the transition to a green economy. It’s a lost opportunity for a Labor government and it could lead us to a war no Australian has an interest in.

We don’t need to go to war with our biggest trading partner. It would be an act of craziness. We have a motion ready to go from the floor to strike Aukus. They are running scared from the rank and file.

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Aboriginal 18-year-old with disability thrown to ground during NSW police arrest while having seizure

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Exclusive: Police launch internal investigation over arrest at Taree, as footage shows officer performing a leg sweep while man is handcuffed

New South Wales police have launched an investigation after a young Aboriginal man with disability was violently arrested while having a seizure and thrown to the ground while handcuffed in Taree.

The 18-year-old was arrested on Tuesday after police received reports a man had allegedly tried to break into two homes. Police said the man then fled. A man was arrested on Gwenneth Avenue.

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NSW court ruling will make it almost impossible to contest drug-driving charges, legal experts claim

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Judge says decision involving a Sydney man who lost his licence after testing positive for cocaine pivoted on presence of drug rather than his credibility

Legal experts have argued a New South Wales district court judgment will make it almost impossible for people facing drug-driving charges to defend themselves, no matter the circumstances.

The decision, handed down on 26 July, involved a Sydney man who lost his licence after testing positive for cocaine at a roadside drug test.

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Australia news live: Federation Square axed as Women’s World Cup live site after fan misbehaviour

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Follow today’s live news updates

Melbourne lord mayor threatens to cancel Federation Square viewing site due to rowdy behaviour of small group of ‘idiots’

And sticking with the flares, Melbourne’s lord mayor, Sally Capp, has threatened to cancel the live viewing site at Federation square due to the rowdy behaviour of a small group of supporters.

If we could find those idiots and make sure they don’t attend, then Fed Square will be going off again, but unfortunately sometimes the few ruin it for the rest of us.

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Australian Border Force raid home in Sydney’s south amid reports nuclear isotopes found

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Road blocked off in Arncliffe with hazmat officers, but authorities refuse to comment on whether nuclear material was found at the address

The Australian Border Force has raided a home in Sydney’s south amid reports nuclear isotopes have been found.

ABF officers were understood to be at the unit in Kelsey Street in Arncliffe executing a search on another matter when they discovered the potentially hazardous materials.

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Catholic church uses death of paedophile priest in bid to stop survivor suing NSW diocese, court hears

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Church claims it cannot get fair trial over alleged abuse by the notorious David Joseph Perrett in legal tactic that has drawn widespread criticism

The Catholic church is seeking to use using the death of a “prolific paedophile” priest to permanently prevent a dying Indigenous man from seeking justice for alleged abuse suffered on camping trips in rural New South Wales.

Two survivors are suing the church’s Armidale diocese for the alleged abuse by notorious priest David Joseph Perrett during camping trips from an Aboriginal mission in the mid-1970s.

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Chief of NSW’s largest council wants developer tax to build swimming pools and libraries

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Blacktown’s Kerry Robinson warns rates would need to rise by 40% to pay for community facilities for more than 250,000 expected new residents

The chief executive of New South Wales’ largest council is calling for a new tax on developers to pay for social infrastructure such as swimming pools, warning the alternative would be to raise rates in urban fringe communities by 40%.

The Blacktown city council chief executive officer, Kerry Robinson, said his council had “no funding source” for libraries or community meeting places to accommodate the more than 250,000 people who are expected to move into the sprawling local government area in western Sydney over the next two decades.

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Opposition refers minister to Ibac – as it happened

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Warren Mundine said he has kicked two people off his no campaign group Recognise a Better Way, one of which for allegedly making an antisemitic comment.

I’ve actually kicked several people off our campaign in regard to their comments and I intend to keep on doing that.

That’s just between us and the couple of people we had sent off. I don’t appreciate racist comments … All they know is I got rid of them and I don’t accept any racial comments from anyone in regard to these issues.

… It wasn’t particularly about Aboriginals, one was a very antisemitic comment and I’m not gonna wear that crap.

When I talk about treaties, when I talk about constitutional recognition, it is in regard to treaties that are signed between the commonwealth government and First Nations peoples.

… I believe in treaties between the First Nations and the commonwealth and at that, and I put it in that context.

I was involved in the beginning … and then after it got further down the track in regard to [what] it was looking at, [then I said] I don’t support that.

It has to be the First Nations, it has to be the traditional owners who make those agreements. I can’t speak for other people’s country, and they can’t speak for my country.

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