John Russell was found to have died in an accidental fall, but his case is one of three being re-examined this week in a NSW special inquiry
More than 30 years after police concluded John Russell accidentally fell to his death near Bondi beach, it’s now believed the 31-year-old was a victim of a fatal gay hate attack.
His death is one of three being examined this week by a New South Wales special inquiry into LGBTQ+ hate crimes.
Continue reading...Police are investigating a possible link between the alleged shooting and a burnt-out car in Zetland
A police operation is under way in Sydney’s eastern suburbs after reports shots were fired on Tuesday morning.
A spokesperson for New South Wales Ambulance confirmed they had multiple vehicles also on the scene.
Continue reading...Modelling along planned flight paths suggest zones will be subject to noise pollution in excess of 70db, or washing machine-level
A 20km stretch of land surrounding the future western Sydney airport will be subjected to noise levels similar to or louder than a washing machine or vacuum cleaner more than 100 times a day by 2040, preliminary flight path analysis shows.
Proposed flight paths released on Tuesday have been designed to avoid areas either currently or projected to be densely populated in coming decades, ahead of the airport beginning operations in late 2026.
Continue reading...Decision could make inmates’ contact with family and friends unaffordable, despite studies showing it reduces recidivism
For two years Lisa Maloney has paid about $40 every four months so her son can call her every day from a prison in New South Wales. Now she will be paying about $300 after the state’s correctional services banned affordable phone call options run by third-party services.
“I’ll keep paying but I’m worried about others who won’t be able to afford to contact their loved ones as much,” said Maloney, who lives on a pension in north-west Victoria and can’t afford to visit her son in Lithgow.
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O’Neil defends decision to keep Nauru offshore processing open
Home affairs and cyber security minister Clare O’Neil was asked about why the offshore processing site on Nauru is being kept open if the last refugee has been removed on ABC RN this morning.
It is an unmitigated good thing for the country that we’ve transitioned the last asylum seeker off Nauru. This has been a festering sore in Australian politics for more than a decade. And I’m very pleased that our government has taken that approach of making sure that we bring that to a close.
However, it is very important that we maintain our strength on the borders. Offshore processing is a part of our overall approach and that is why Nauru will remain open and on standby.
Continue reading...Counsel assisting LGBTQ+ hate crimes inquiry criticises ‘unexplained’ delays in prosecution in the 2009 Centennial Park murder
Sexuality may have played a part in the unsolved stabbing murder of a “charismatic and kind” Sydney man in Centennial Park nearly 14 years ago.
A special New South Wales inquiry into LGBTQ+ hate crimes has examined the case of Anthony Cawsey, 37, whose body was found in the eastern suburbs park in September 2009.
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Continue reading...BoM forecasts show system to move from northern WA toward eastern states while alps in south-east could receive more snow
A large cloud band is set to bring unseasonable wet weather to parts of Australia as it moves eastwards across the country this week.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s forecasts suggest a rain band developing over northern Western Australia on Sunday into Monday will move towards the eastern states over the first half of the week.
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States will ‘do their own things’ on rent caps: Collins
Speers asks for what evidence Collins is referring to. The minister points to research by Graeme Samuel, former boss of the ACCC, which she referred to in parliament this week and again reiterates the talking point:
The overwhelming evidence suggests that it doesn’t work. States and territories will do their own things in terms of this. What we are being asked to do here is have eight different jurisdictions make these decisions at the same time and we have been told very clearly from those jurisdictions that they won’t be doing this. Some states have already ruled out both freezes and caps. What we’ve been asked to do is simply not achievable and we won’t commit to something that is not achievable, David.
When you look at the evidence that has been cited by others, the evidence shows that it reduces supply significantly by up to 15%. The other thing that it shows is the quality of the stock diminishes over time, so I will look at the data and the evidence and the data and the evidence says that it doesn’t work.
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Forced property sales on the rise in outer Sydney as interest rate hikes start to bite
My colleagues, Peter Hannam and Nick Evershed have this report on the rise in forced property sales as interest rate rises begin to bite.
Sydney’s outer suburbs are showing signs of rising numbers of distressed property sales with higher interest rates the likely cause, a trend that can be expected to spread to other capitals, according to property data group Domain.
Distressed listings as a share of the national market remain low, at about 2.8% across the capital cities, compared with a record 5.1% in late 2018.
Continue reading...A major Newcastle venue had to be shut down after it was targeted by a ransomware attack
Cybersecurity will be a key focus for the yet-to-be-appointed independent panel to oversee the New South Wales government’s cashless gambling trial, after a smaller pilot program was hit by hackers.
The state’s gaming minister, David Harris, made the assurances after a trial at a major Newcastle venue had to be shut down after it was targeted by a ransomware attack.
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PwC should not be banned from government work but should face ‘significant sanction’, Dutton says
Following the damning interim Senate report into PwC, Dutton says he does not believe the consultancy firm should be cut from all government work, but says a penalty needs to be incurred for the breach of trust:
I think where people have breached a contract, they’ve breached trust, there’s a penalty and the price that should be paid. I don’t know whether that’s the company or whether there’s a solution that the government can provide to it but there’s there’s a significant sanction that’s that’s required – no doubt the government will be looking into that right now.
All of the pollsters at the moment, and credible commentators, believe that it’s either going to fail in October or, best case scenario for the yes case, that gets up 51-49. And in that scenario, our nation is split down the middle.
I think there’s an opportunity to unite our country here instead of divide, and that is that we should proceed with constitutional recognition.
Continue reading...Inner west and south-west suburbs are first priority under state plans but change will come too late for some
Families in some parts of Sydney where all the local high schools are single-sex will have the option of a co-educational school from 2025, the state government has announced, while others will have to wait until 2027.
Parents have been lobbying for change for years, and in the lead-up to this year’s state election, Chris Minns pledged parents would have guaranteed access to co-educational public schools within Labor’s first term of government.
Continue reading...Mário Marcelo Santoro confessed to killing his former girlfriend in Australia only after extensive evidence was produced against him, judge says
A Brazillian federal court has sentenced engineer Mário Marcelo Santoro to 27 years in prison, after he confessed to the 2018 murder of former girlfriend Cecília Haddad in Australia.
Santoro, today in his mid-40s, was convicted of aggravated homicide, asphyxiation, femicide and concealment of a corpse.
Continue reading...The 95-year-old died after she was Tasered during a confrontation with police at a nursing home in Cooma in May
Documents show New South Wales police removed mention of paramedics, a knife and a Taser in their first statement about the Tasering of a 95-year-old grandmother.
Clare Nowland was Tasered during a confrontation with police while walking with a frame and holding a steak knife at the Yallambee Lodge in Cooma on 17 May, according to subsequent police statements.
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Continue reading...The party’s bill allowing adults to possess and grow small quantities of the drug at home will be introduced across Victoria, NSW and WA
Legalise Cannabis MPs are launching a coordinated push to make marijuana legal for personal use in three states and overhaul what the party says is outdated legislation that unnecessarily criminalises people.
The party’s drug reform bill will be introduced on Tuesday in state parliaments in Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia – the jurisdictions where it has representation in the state’s upper houses.
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Continue reading...John Gaffney, whose son Mitchell married Madeleine Edsell last Sunday, calls for mandatory rule on all buses
The parents of the groom whose Hunter Valley wedding ended in tragedy when 10 guests died in a bus crash when leaving the event have called for stronger seatbelt laws.
John Gaffney, whose son Mitchell married Madeleine Edsell in wine country on Sunday 11 June, has called for seat belts to be mandatory on all buses – something which is not currently the law in New South Wales.
Continue reading...Blockade Australia’s coordinated action targets ports in Newcastle, Brisbane and Melbourne
Climate protesters have disrupted coal shipments and motorway traffic at ports in Newcastle, Brisbane and Melbourne.
A climate protester has suspended herself from a rail bridge at the Newcastle coal ports, blocking trains, as coordinated protests were mounted at ports in Melbourne and Brisbane. The woman was livestreaming her solitary protest online and police were on site.
Continue reading...Sporting teams, friends and family used weekend to mourn the victims as fundraising effort tops $600,000
Nine passengers remain in hospital almost a week after the horror bus crash in the Hunter Valley as the fundraising effort to support victims and their families tops $600,000.
Sporting teams, friends and family used the weekend to mourn and pay tribute to the victims up and down eastern Australia.
Continue reading...Animal Justice party will put forward an amendment to the government’s bill that further strengthens laws allowing renters to own pets
The New South Wales government is being pushed to make rentals animal-friendly sooner as pet owners find it increasingly hard to find a home and pounds see an influx of renters giving up their pets.
Labor promised in the lead-up to the election that it would make it easier for renters to own pets, with plans to give landlords 21 days to respond to a renter’s request to own a pet. If the landlord refuses within the timeframe, they must put their reason to the yet to be established rental commissioner for a final decision.
Continue reading...Data released in both states suggest online posts may have contributed to a rise in certain types of crime
Social media platforms allowing teenagers to brag about crimes might be contributing to an increase in youth offending in Australia’s most populous states, Victorian police and New South Wales’ crime statistics agency say.
In Victoria, data from the Crime Statistics Agency (CSA) released on Thursday reported that home burglaries committed by 10-to-14-year-olds increased by almost 87% in the 12 months to 31 March, compared with the prior year. This is despite youth offending being down by almost half, compared with a decade ago.
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