First tetanus death in NSW since 1993 prompts urgent vaccination call

A Sydney woman in her 80s died earlier this month from tetanus, acquired from a minor leg wound

NSW Health is urging people to get vaccinated for tetanus after three recent cases in NSW, including the first death in 30 years.

The director of communicable diseases, Dr Christine Selvey, said older Australians in particular should ensure they are up to date with their tetanus jab.

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Salim Mehajer allegedly choked girlfriend until she lost consciousness, Sydney court hears

Former Auburn deputy mayor, 36, has pleaded not guilty to six charges related to alleged domestic violence

Former suburban Sydney deputy mayor Salim Mehajer has been accused in court of choking his then girlfriend until she fell unconscious.

Mehajer was charged in 2021 with three counts of common assault, intimidation intending to cause fear and physical harm, intentional choking and assault occasioning actual bodily harm with an alternate charge of common assault.

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Cold snap to continue after Easter brings snow to Australia’s eastern states

‘Very cold and gusty’ winds have lowered temperatures up and down the east coast and brought warnings of wild surf conditions

Australia’s east coast is shivering through an unseasonal cold snap with the cloudy, wet and windy Easter weekend weather expected to linger.

Much of the south-east coast, including New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania will experience cold weather throughout the week, with cooler-than-average temperatures expected until at least Thursday.

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NSW Liberals win final lower-house seat of Ryde two weeks after state election

Ryde becomes most marginal electorate in NSW after Liberal candidate Jordan Lane wins by just 50 votes

Two weeks after New South Wales voters headed to the polls, the final seat in the state election has been called, with the Liberal party to hold the Sydney electorate of Ryde.

The ABC election analyst, Antony Green, called the seat for the Liberal candidate, Jordan Lane, on Saturday with a margin of just 50 votes as check counts of remaining postal votes were completed on Saturday.

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Man shot dead by police in NSW after he allegedly stabbed officer

Two constables in serious but stable condition in hospital after allegedly being threatened with knife at a Newcastle home

Police have shot dead a man in Newcastle after he allegedly stabbed an officer with a knife.

The man died at the scene and has yet to be identified.

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Pat Dodson takes leave from Senate – as it happened

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Former Tasmanian Liberal premier condemns party’s opposition to voice

Tasmania is the last Liberal state government left in the country and its former premier has taken to social media this morning to speak out against the federal party’s decision to oppose the voice to parliament.

Should the Liberal party maintain its opposition to the voice it will simply accelerate its increasing irrelevance.

I have asked for Cyber Security NSW to issue advice to NSW government employees, to implement this change as soon as possible.

I will no longer be using TikTok.

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Man charged with stalking after car crash that killed woman and three boys

No charges have been laid over the crash itself which happened late Tuesday night

A 32-year-old man arrested after a car crash that killed a woman and three young boys in rural NSW has been charged with domestic violence offences.

Police investigating the crash near the NSW Riverina town of Leeton have charged a man with domestic violence-related offences.

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‘Astonishing’: cost of Inland Rail doubles to $30bn as review savages Coalition over project

Dr Kerry Schott warns she is not confident her assessment captures the full extent of cost blowouts and delays

The predicted price tag of the Inland Rail megaproject has almost doubled in two years to more than $30bn, as an independent review savages the former Coalition government’s handling of the plan.

In her independent review of the Inland Rail, commissioned by the Albanese government last year and released on Thursday, Dr Kerry Schott also flagged further delivery delays of at least four years.

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Riverina irrigator fined $150,000 for illegally extracting $1.1m of groundwater

The Natural Resources Access Regulator is also prosecuting the alleged theft of water by another irrigator near Wentworth on the Murray

A Riverina irrigator has been convicted and fined more than $150,000 for taking $1.1m worth of water from an at-risk groundwater source in south-western New South Wales during a period of drought between July 2017 and June 2020.

Dean Troy Salvestro pleaded guilty to five charges against sections 91G(2) and 60C(2) of the Water Management Act 2000 in a judgment handed down in the NSW land and environment court . Four of the charges concerned breaches of bore extraction limits and one charge was for taking water not in accordance with an access licence allocation.

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Australia news live: seizure of $270m worth of heroin is Queensland’s biggest; RBA interest rates decision due

Australians will find out at 2.30pm AEST whether the Reserve Bank will pause its interest rates hikes after 10 consecutive rises. Follow the day’s news live

Australia’s new high commissioner to the UK, Stephen Smith, says becoming a republic is “inevitable” even if Australians are proud to have the British monarch as their head of state.

In his first interview since taking up the post, Smith told the Times newspaper that most British people would be “indifferent” to Australia getting rid of the monarchy and it would not damage the countries’ relationship.

There is a lot of affection and respect for the monarchy in Australia.

That affection and respect hasn’t gone away because of Australia contemplating from time to time what it should do about its constitutional arrangements.

My personal view is it’s inevitable. But how that’s progressed is entirely a matter for the Australian government of the day.

Our public-sector workers do a great job serving their fellow Victorians and we’re proud to support them. In addition to wage increases, workers will be able to obtain a sign-on bonus while productivity improvements will bring the potential for further advancement of conditions.

The policy provides fair outcomes for employees while being responsible as we deal with the types of budget challenges faced by families, businesses and governments across the world.

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Former NSW deputy Liberal leader says party has ‘moved too far to the right’ – as it happened

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Prime minister pays tribute to Yunupingu

Prime minister Anthony Albanese has paid tribute to the Yolŋu man Yunupingu, one of the most significant Indigenous figures in history and a former Australian of the year, as “an extraordinary leader”.

He was one of the greatest of Australians.

An extraordinary leader of his people, respected right across Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia.

I said to him that I was serious, that we would do it.

Today we mourn with deep love and great sadness the passing of our dearly loved father Yunupiŋu.

The holder of our sacred fire, the leader of our clan and the path-maker to our future.

The loss to our family and community is profound. We are hurting, but we honour him and remember with love everything he has done for us.

We remember him for his fierce leadership, and total strength for Yolŋu and for Aboriginal people throughout Australia. He lived by our laws always.

Yunupiŋu lived his entire life on his land, surrounded by the sound of bilma (clapsticks), yidaki (didgeridoo) and the manikay (sacred song) and dhulang (sacred designs) of our people. He was born on our land, he lived all his life on our land and he died on our land secure in the knowledge that his life’s work was secure.

He had friendship and loyalty to so many people, at all levels, from all places.

Our father was driven by a vision for the future of this nation, his people’s place in the nation and the rightful place for Aboriginal people everywhere.

In leaving us, we know that Dad’s loss will be felt in many hearts and minds. We ask you to mourn his passing in your own way, but we as a family encourage you to rejoice in the gift of his life and leadership.

There will never be another like him.

In time we will announce the dates for bäpurru (ceremonies) that will see him returned to his land and to his fathers. These ceremonies will be held in North Eastern Arnhem Land.

We ask the media to respect our grieving space over the coming weeks as we put together ceremonial arrangements to honour Dad.

Instead of flowers, we invite those of you who were touched by Dad’s fire to share with us your personal recollections and memories of his life. This will lift our spirits.

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Labor is not going to work with Mark Latham, new NSW premier Chris Minns says

Minns will call on the next Liberal leader to make the same commitment, as vote counting continues after state election

New South Wales’ Labor government will not work with One Nation leader Mark Latham at all, and will begin a process that could again ban independent MP Gareth Ward from parliament.

With vote counting all but ensuring the new premier, Chris Minns, will rule in minority, attention has turned to how the new NSW parliament will manage the re-elected pair.

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NSW Labor falls short of majority after two seats are called for Liberal party

Ryde is the only count still in dispute as the Liberals hold on to Holsworthy and Terrigal, ABC election analyst Antony Green says

Labor will not form majority government in New South Wales, after two of the final three seats in dispute after last week’s election were called for the Liberal party.

Holsworthy, in Sydney’s south-west, would be retained by the Liberals, the ABC election analyst, Antony Green, said, while also declaring the party would hold Terrigal, on the Central Coast.

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When does daylight saving end in NSW, Victoria, Tasmania and the ACT?

Daylight saving comes to an end on Sunday, as much of Australia’s south-east coast enjoys a well-deserved sleep in

Lucky folks across much of eastern Australia will welcome an extra hour of shut-eye as daylight saving comes to an end on Sunday.

Clocks in New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and the ACT will lose an hour at 3am, joining the same time zone as Queensland.

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NSW transport minister announces investigation into ‘serious problems’ on Sydney trains

‘What I have learned alarms me,’ says Labor’s Jo Haylen but she insists independent inquiry will not be a ‘witch-hunt’

An independent investigation into repeated failings on Sydney’s train network will be launched by the New South Wales Labor government, but the state’s new transport minister insists it will not be a “witch-hunt”.

Jo Haylen said the dire state of the state’s heavy rail system had been laid bare in the urgent briefings she received in the days since being sworn in.

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Australian surf club’s policy banning nudity in changerooms bewilders swimmers

One member says she feels body shamed after receiving warning letter but official defends ‘family-friendly’ rules to protect children

If you want to change out of swimmers after a dip at Terrigal beach, try to do so “modestly”. Slip up and you’ve breached the Australian surf life saving club’s no-nude policy.

Ocean swimmer Nada Pantle was threatened with “disciplinary action” when she did.

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Pauline Hanson calls on Mark Latham to apologise for ‘disgusting’ homophobic tweet

Independent Alex Greenwich does ‘not intend to engage’ with One Nation MP’s comment aimed at him, but others spring to his defence

The One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, has called on Mark Latham to apologise for comments about the sexuality of fellow state MP Alex Greenwich that left the New South Wales environment minister, Penny Sharpe, “physically sickened”.

Latham, the NSW One Nation leader, made the comments on Twitter on Thursday morning in response to an article in which Greenwich called Latham “a disgusting human being”. The article was about LGBTQ+ protesters being targeted outside an event Latham spoke at earlier this month.

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Crossbench prepares to flex its power while NSW Labor still short of forming majority government

Gambling reform, planning changes and environmental issues put forward as crossbenchers’ priorities as counting continues

New South Wales Labor will come under pressure to go further on gambling reform than a modest trial of the cashless gaming card, with several crossbench MPs prioritising the issue as part of their support for a minority government.

Labor’s chances of forming a majority government were fading rapidly on Wednesday, after the party fell short in two key knife-edge contests after Saturday’s election.

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Australia politics live: rate rises must stop with inflation coming down, Greens say; Brereton named anti-corruption commissioner

Commission appointments must be signed off by the governor general. Follow live

Sorry – I am told by a couple of senators that it was “technically” 4.13am.

So expect to see a few bleary-eyed senators in the coffee lines this morning.

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NSW Labor sweats on possibility of minority government as jostle for Liberal leadership begins

Incoming Minns government will have an interim cabinet sworn in as counting continues in key seats

The rival left and right factions of the New South Wales Liberals look set to face off in a contest over who becomes the state’s next opposition leader, as the incoming Labor government sweats on a handful of undecided seats to see whether it will govern in a majority.

As counting resumed on Monday, Labor’s chances of forming majority government in the new parliament were in the balance after the inclusion of pre-poll votes saw it fall behind in the seat of Terrigal on the state’s central coast.

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