Three strikes: NSW falls behind rest of nation as Queensland reforms drug possession laws

Queensland health minister says progressive changes will open up pathways for people to receive treatment

New South Wales will become the only state that doesn’t allow cautions for people possessing drugs after Queensland moved to mandate a three-strike system.

Doctors, police and drug reform advocates are welcoming reforms, passed on Thursday night, that will see Queensland take a more progressive approach to policing the personal consumption of illegal drugs.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Chris Minns leaves door open to renegotiate gaming tax rise as Star casino cuts jobs

NSW premier criticises former state government’s tax policy for casinos which he says lacked due diligence

The New South Wales government has left the door open to renegotiate a gaming tax forecast to raise $364m over three years, as the financial health of casino operator Star Entertainment deteriorates.

Star announced on Wednesday that it would eliminate 500 jobs and freeze salaries for non-unionised staff as it looked for $100m in annual savings.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Gambling group Star to cut 500 full-time jobs and conduct review of Sydney casino

Board says company is experiencing a ‘significant and rapid deterioration in operating conditions’

The Star will sack the equivalent of 500 full-time employees, freeze salaries and consider the fate of its flagship Sydney casino as regulatory and economic headwinds buffet the flailing gaming group.

The gambling company also announced on Wednesday that it was working with Barrenjoey Capital Partners to conduct a strategic review of The Star Sydney – Australia’s second largest casino – alongside the cost-cutting initiative.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

NSW courts put all remaining Covid infringement cases on hold after ruling on legality of fines

Exclusive: Urgent legal advice being sought by courts to clarify how decision could affect pending and finalised cases

A damning ruling about the legality of Covid fines has prompted New South Wales police to quietly withdraw some infringements from court and forced the judiciary to put all remaining Covid breach cases on hold, pending urgent legal advice.

Earlier this month, the status of tens of thousands of fines issued during Covid restrictions was cast into doubt by a NSW supreme court ruling, which found infringements that failed to properly spell out an alleged offence were invalid.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

NSW Labor will hold off on Hills Shire council inquiry ‘at request of Icac’

Premier says government will not proceed with public inquiry as it could affect investigation being conducted by commission

The New South Wales state parliament will hold off on conducting further public inquiries into alleged impropriety at Hills Shire council while the state’s anti-corruption commission conducts its own investigation.

A previous upper house inquiry, launched after allegations aired in parliament by NSW Liberal MP Ray Williams about senior members of his own party, became a focal point of the recent election campaign when it sparked a manhunt for one of former premier Dominic Perrottet’s brothers.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Two men charged over alleged Sydney kidnapping which left one victim with severed finger

The men have been charged with kidnapping offences after a couple was allegedly abducted in the Sydney suburb of Fairfield

Two men have been charged over the alleged kidnapping of a man and a woman in Sydney’s south-west, which police say left one of the victims with a severed finger.

The alleged victims, a 26-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman, were walking towards a car park at Fairfield in Sydney’s south-west on 18 January when they were grabbed by two men wearing balaclavas, New South Wales police said.

Continue reading...

Dozens of climate activists arrested after shovelling coal from train bound for Newcastle

Police charged about 50 protesters after coal train was brought to a standstill for four hours

Dozens of people have been arrested after protesters scaled a train bound for the Port of Newcastle and began shovelling coal out of its wagons.

The train was brought to a standstill a few kilometres from the port while passing Sandgate, near the Pacific Highway, about 10am on Sunday.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Man charged with foreign interference to remain behind bars until Monday – as it happened

The 55-year-old businessman appeared via video link at Parramatta magistrates court. This blog is now closed

‘Really disturbing footage’: David Pocock responds to gas seep video

Senator David Pocock has called the video showing large methane gas bubbles active on the surface of Queensland’s Condamine River “really disturbing footage”.

Continue reading...

Time is a traveller: the Tenterfield Saddler is up for sale

Building which inspired Peter Allen’s 1972 hit is up for sale, amid calls for the government to step in and preserve it as a cultural destination

The Tenterfield Saddler, immortalised by Peter Allen, is up for sale, and fans of the Australian songwriter are calling for government intervention to preserve its history.

This modest, two-room building was raised in hand-cut local blue granite, timber and tin on the high street of the northern New South Wales town in 1870. Word was that bush poet AB ‘Banjo’ Paterson was a regular customer.

Sign up to receive Guardian Australia’s fortnightly Rural Network email newsletter

Continue reading...

NSW police breached body-worn camera policies during shooting death of Indigenous man, coroner finds

Inquest into death of Gomeroi man Stanley Russell urges changes to how officers handle people with an intellectual disability

A coroner delivering findings into the police shooting death of Indigenous man Stanley Russell said officers seriously breached their own policies on body-worn cameras during the incident.

The New South Wales deputy state coroner Carmel Forbes also recommended policy changes on how police handle people with intellectual disabilities, and urged them to clarify rules on when officers need to wear body cameras.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Paramedic who died in stabbing at McDonald’s in Sydney’s south-west was a young father

Police arrested 21-year-old man allegedly armed with a knife at the scene in Campbelltown, who is now in custody

A New South Wales paramedic had stopped at McDonald’s during an early morning shift break before he was fatally stabbed outside the fast-food restaurant in Sydney’s south-west on Friday morning.

Police say the 29-year-old father was grabbing a bite to eat with a colleague after finishing a job nearby when he was stabbed at the Campbelltown restaurant. His colleague then called for help just before 5.30am.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Australia news live: Dutton says PM should ‘make sure’ federal police are sent to to Alice Springs; recount ordered for Sydney seat

Opposition leader says locals are leaving town and tourism numbers are down due to lack of safety. Follow all the day’s news

If the NDIS is improved for people, it will be better for budget, Shorten says

Shorten is being asked about his other portfolio, minister for NDIS. The Grattan Institute yesterday made several recommendations to help rein in the budget, saying the government need to take a hard look at the NDIS.

If we run the scheme better for the person, the participant, the person with severe and profound disabilities. I also think that some of the other anxieties which are about money being wasted, will be dealt with.

We’ve been reforming individual features of the scheme already like getting people who are medically discharged from hospital on the NDIS, not languishing in hospital for months and months. We’ve been reducing some of the legacy cases.

So the budget will no doubt have measures which will be about improving the NDIS for participants but the budget isn’t an end in itself. So we’re doing work right now. There’ll be more work being done, and there’ll be work also finally announced when the review happens.

The bigger piece first of all, is that when the government thinks that someone owes a debt to the government, we’ve got to have a much more methodical transparent process to establish the accuracy of the debt.

The best thing you can do is not make a mistake to begin with – and I mean the government not make a mistake.

Continue reading...

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.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

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.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

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.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

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.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

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.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Pat Dodson takes leave from Senate – as it happened

This blog is now closed.

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.

Continue reading...

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.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

‘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.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...