NSW hotline for women to ask about partners’ past convictions could give false sense of security, critics warn

No new evidence scheme enhances victim-survivor safety and that resources wouldn’t be better spent elsewhere, experts say

Women at risk of domestic violence could be lulled into a false sense of security by a reheated New South Wales government scheme that would allow people to look up their partner’s offending history, a leading expert has said.

The premier, Dominic Perrottet, said on Monday the Right to Ask scheme would keep women safer by allowing police to release information to them about their partner’s domestic violence convictions, over the phone or through an online portal.

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Women in NSW could check partners’ past domestic violence convictions under Coalition plan

Premier says proposed Right to Ask scheme ‘all about ensuring that women across NSW are safe’

Residents of NSW would be able to find out if their partner has a history of domestic violence by checking with police, under a scheme proposed by the Coalition.

The NSW government revealed on Monday it would allow people in a relationship to access the domestic violence offending history of their partner if it wins the March state election.

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MP calls for action on crime in ‘under siege’ town – as it happened

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Pearson urges voice dissenters to ‘be smart’

Karvelas also asks Pearson about the concerns that are coming from the left, including Indigenous affairs spokesperson for the Greens, Lidia Thorpe, who will be calling for treaty before voice at the Invasion Day rally.

And when you have a breakthrough response, a breakthrough response like constitutional recognition, you’ve got to grab it. You’ve got to switch from protest to grabbing the opportunity.

… And I believe that a full response to the Uluru statement will achieve actual real reconciliation. We’re at a point in our history where the protest has achieved the result we desire. And, and so we’ve got to be smart about it.

This this year is the most important here in the past 235. That’s my assertion. This is the most important year and and this referendum is the most important question concerning Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians since the first fleet.

We’ve got to understand what is at stake, and that is the chance for reconciliation and if the referendum is kiboshed through game play and spoiling game by the opposition, we will lose the opportunity forever.

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Queensland public schools to join NSW in banning students from ChatGPT

Exclusive: Artificial intelligence expert questions firewall strategy, as Victoria opts to wait and see

Queensland will join New South Wales in banning access to ChatGPT in state schools, though artificial intelligence experts have questioned how effective such a strategy is.

Nine newspapers revealed on Sunday morning the NSW Department of Education would ban the technology using a firewall, as concern mounts over the use of bots to cheat in assessments.

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Two NDIS providers banned after fraud claims – as it happened

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New Australian factory to make construction material from recycled goods

A company making construction products entirely from used drink cartons, soft plastics, disposable coffee cops and similar products will launch its first Australian manufacturing plant at Warragamba next month.

It’s basically like making a big cheese toasty. You heat it up and cool it down a couple of times and the plastic melts between the gaps in the fibre.

It’s a straightforward process, but it’s focused on reducing problematic waste ... materials which, until we came along, had been completely un-recyclable and collected by container deposit schemes.

In Australia alone, we could unlock a massive $2tn worth of potential savings across two decades.

Those potential savings could come, for example, through reusing valuable resources currently going to waste in landfill, such as plastics, glass, masonry and metals.

For far too long healthcare in western Sydney has been an afterthought.

The thousands of people moving into the area every year deserve world class healthcare.

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NSW Coalition split on cashless gaming as independent warns against regional exemptions

Premier Dominic Perrottet rules out different rules for clubs and pubs in the bush, in contrast to deputy premier Paul Toole

The New South Wales Coalition appears split on the future of cashless gaming in the state once again after the Liberal premier, Dominic Perrottet, denied the government was considering a carve-out for regional pubs and clubs as part of the scheme.

The denial was made less than 24 hours after the leader of the Nationals and deputy premier, Paul Toole, said the option was part of “ongoing conversations”.

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Australian researchers identify genes that cause sarcomas – as it happened

First genetic map to identify important genes that cause one of most common cancers in children. This blog is now closed

Five-year $41m maintenance contract extension for army’s fleet of Chinook helicopters

The government has announced a $41m extension to an army helicopter maintenance contract.

The CH-47F Chinook fleet is an important capability for Defence, providing critical lift capability on several domestic and regional operations, including Bushfire Assist in 2020, and Tonga and Flood Assist in 2022. This contract extension will expand the maintenance and training support for our Chinook fleet, while boosting opportunities for defence industry in Queensland.

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NSW environment watchdog to require big polluters to show how they will hit net zero and then nudge them to improve

The state’s EPA is unveiling what it calls Australia’s ‘most comprehensive plan’ to cut carbon emissions

New South Wales’s environmental watchdog has released what it calls Australia’s “most comprehensive plan” to regulate carbon emissions, requiring firms to show how they will hit net zero by 2050 and nudging them to improve resilience in a warming world.

The Climate Change Policy and Action Plan 2023-26, released on Friday by the Environment Protection Authority, will identify what progress is already under way by companies now covered by pollution licences and encourage them to improve.

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‘Undermine our road safety’: promised rewards for ‘safe’ NSW drivers criticised by experts

Labor and the Coalition promise to ease penalties for ‘low-level’ offences if they win the state election

Election promises by the New South Wales government and the Labor opposition to reward “safe” drivers have been met with scepticism by industry experts, with one accusing both sides of buying votes and failing to advance road safety.

The Coalition on Wednesday promised that drivers with a three-year clean driving record would be able to avoid fines for low-level offending, including low-range speeding, disobeying some signs and driving in a bus lane, if re-elected.

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Sydney forecast to welcome its first day over 30 degrees in almost a year

The city is just eight days off its longest streak of days below 30, the last being in February 2022

After 330 days, months of downpours and unusually cool weather, Sydney is finally staring down the barrel of a 30C day.

Wednesday is forecast to be the first day in nearly a year where temperatures are expected to top 30C at Observatory Hill, in the heart of the city, ending Sydney’s longest cool streak in over three decades.

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Activists call for immediate halt to duck and kangaroo hunting after Murray Darling floods

Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia have increased kangaroo harvest quotas for 2023 but impact from floods yet to be assessed

Animal welfare advocates are calling for a moratorium on commercial and recreational shooting of wildlife affected by the devastating Murray-Darling floods.

Wildlife Victoria has called for the “immediate cessation” of the Victorian government’s kangaroo harvesting program and a moratorium on the annual duck hunting season, which usually begins in March.

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NSW treasurer refuses to say if $1,000 a day pokies spending cap is too high as he ridicules Labor policy

Key independent MP calls for a $100 daily limit as Coalition comes under pressure to release details of its cashless gaming card

The New South Wales treasurer, Matt Kean, has refused to say whether he believes a $1,000 a day spending limit on poker machines is too high, as the Coalition government faces increasing pressure to release details of its highly anticipated cashless gaming card.

The powerful crossbench MP Alex Greenwich has urged the Coalition to follow its colleagues in Tasmania by setting a $100 daily limit on pokies, saying a cap was “crucial” for cashless gaming to work at reducing gambling addiction in the state.

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NSW MP to contest election despite husband’s death – as it happened

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Australian Open CEO reflects on ‘very difficult journey’

Australian Open 2023 kicks off at Melbourne Park this morning.

A Balmain pub crawl

Craft breweries around Marrickville

The Corinthian restaurant for Greek food in Marrickville

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NSW stamp duty refunds expected to attract 2,500 applications as land tax scheme launches

Coalition’s program allowing choice of annual tax over stamp duty could exceed projection of 6,000 applicants

About 2,500 people are expected to retrospectively apply for refunds to stamp duty paid on new homes bought since the middle of November when the New South Wales government’s land tax scheme officially begins.

New estimates from Revenue NSW suggest almost half of the 6,000 new owners who were expected to apply to have their stamp duty payments waived in favour of a land tax in the scheme’s first year will come within days of its introduction on Monday.

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Body of US bushwalker, 78, found in NSW national park

Woman went missing on Friday night and extensive ground, sea and air search located her body on Saturday near Pearl beach on Central Coast

A body found in bushland on the New South Wales Central Coast is believed to be a missing 78-year-old American tourist.

Police were initially notified on Friday night that the woman had gone missing while bushwalking. They were told she was in bushland near Middle Head between Pearl and Patonga beaches.

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Bushfire in Adelaide Hills; PM says ‘we’ve got the balance right’ on climate policy changes – as it happened

Firefighters prepared for a long night battling an out-of-control blaze near Montacute in the Adelaide Hills. This blog is now closed

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has responded to the admission of the New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, that he wore a Nazi uniform to his 21st birthday party.

At a press conference just finished in Townsville, Albanese said had been in PNG but had seen the statements from the NSW premier.

I have observed his statements. That’s a matter for him, and then for others who’ll make judgments based upon the premier’s explanation.

These banknotes were sent to our Majura Forensic Facility to undergo specialist fingerprint development in a purpose built machine.

This is an extremely powerful and sensitive process where precious metals such as gold can actually enhance the fingerprints of individuals that have touched the exhibits, such as banknotes.

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Knives out: a raucous party, a Nazi uniform and a Liberal Party mystery

While questions remain after Dominic Perrottet’s Nazi uniform admission, the internal anger at the premier is real and multifaceted

It’s the biggest mystery in New South Wales politics: who was behind the rumours of a damaging photograph of Dominic Perrottet that began circulating in the weeks before he revealed that he wore a Nazi uniform at his 21st birthday party?

When it comes to uncovering the culprit, one Liberal party source said: “It’s a bit like that movie Knives Out – there are about 20 people who it could’ve been and they all had a motive.”

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Doctor temporarily banned over thousands of potentially ‘incomplete’ colonoscopies in Albury-Wodonga

Almost 2,000 patients of surgeon told by health authorities they may need to have procedures repeated to ensure they do not have cancer after an investigation by regulators

A surgeon who performed hundreds of potentially “incomplete” colonoscopies in the Albury-Wodonga region has been temporarily banned from practising medicine.

Dr Liu-Ming Schmidt will remain registered as a GP and specialist surgeon in Australia, but cannot perform any medical procedures or treat patients according to conditions imposed on Friday.

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Why now? Inside Dominic Perrottet’s plea for voters’ forgiveness over his Nazi outfit

Analysis: Someone in the NSW premier’s own corner seems determined that he should pay for his 21st birthday mistake

In his maiden speech to parliament 11 years ago, the New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, shared an anecdote from his childhood, in which he explained his “love of politics” began from a young age.

In the speech, Perrottet said that from the age of 10 he and his siblings were “required to present an article on current affairs to the family” at the dinner table.

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New federal court rules over access to documents branded ‘utterly disgraceful’ – as it happened

Court moves to protect respondents from early reporting of allegations but media union criticises decision. This blog is now closed

Chalmers finds it ‘hard to believe’ someone at 21 wouldn’t know Nazi fancy dress was unacceptable

Hamish McDonald asks Chalmers about the news on Perrottet’s decision to wear a Nazi uniform at his 21st birthday party.

My view about this is that we want the state of New South Wales and we want Australia to be more inclusive and more tolerant. And when something like this comes out, that’s obviously a challenge for that. People in New South Wales will have an opportunity to express their view in March on a more inclusive and more tolerant state of New South Wales in the same way that people had that opportunity nationally in May.

Do you think that it’s possible that someone didn’t know [it was offensive] was even at the age of 21?

I find that hard to believe. I think it’s a particularly hurtful thing to have done, particularly for people who remember the war; obviously the Jewish community and others will be deeply hurt by, deeply offended by that, and for good reason, and I think the ultimate judge of this will be the people of New South Wales.

The lost economic activity doesn’t really begin to capture the full human cost [to the] community and the full cost to infrastructure and assets and communities more broadly.

We’ve put that number out there, really just as a reminder that even though we are largely focused on the human cost of these natural disasters, there is a cost to the economy as well and the cost to the budget.

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