Investigators appealing for information after blaze erupted around 3am on Boxing Day
Two women are fighting for life after a house fire authorities consider suspicious.
Detectives were investigating the cause of the Boxing Day blaze, which erupted shortly after 3am in Gulliver, a suburb of Townsville.
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More on the new Malaysia-based maritime institute:
The government is contributing $1.78m over four years to support the institute, which will train regional government officials on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, broader maritime law and ocean governance, awareness of maritime domains and environmental protection.
We don’t want to see any unilateral changes to the status quo across the Taiwan straits, and our focus is on doing everything we can in terms of exercising our international voice around promoting stability and peace in and around the Taiwan straits, in and around Taiwan.
Rules and norms are vital for our shared maritime region and the countries of our region make an ongoing contribution to maintaining and promoting them.
The institute will deliver training to officials from across the region on complex maritime legal and policy topics. It will nurture leaders and help further our collective contribution to a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.
Continue reading...The Victorian premier has defended the state’s business credentials saying there’s key data missing from the Business Council of Australia’s report. Follow today’s news headlines live
Weather check shows mixed conditions forecast across Australian cities
It’s a mixed, if warm, bag in capital cities today, with the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting storms in Melbourne, sunny skies in Brisbane and Adelaide and showers across all other major cities.
Continue reading...Aemo says it does not want to ‘directly control people’s rooftop solar’ but it may be necessary to reduce or cut off power gleaned from the sun
The power grid in eastern Australia could experience “outage conditions” as soon as next spring unless states speed up actions to cope with surplus generation from solar panels on sunny days, the Australian Energy Market Operator (Aemo) has warned.
In a report released on Monday, Aemo called for an “emergency backstop” mechanism to ensure grid stability when households and other solar photovoltaic (PV) owners export excess electricity.
Continue reading...Environmentalists say marine park waste regulations need updating to limit grey water and exhaust chemicals as passenger cruise numbers rise
Environmentalists and tourism operators on the Great Barrier Reef say authorities must enforce stricter pollution standards on cruise liners visiting the world heritage area amid growth in passenger cruise numbers and concern that ships are dumping toxins into the water.
The Whitsunday Conservation Council says the definition of “waste” used to prevent marine discharge on the reef – which dates back to the 1970s – does not restrict discharge from sulphur “scrubbers” that have become commonplace in the shipping industry.
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The health minister, Mark Butler, is holding a press conference in Adelaide to announce the endometriosis drug Visanne will be added to the pharmaceutical benefits scheme. It’s the first listing of an endo treatment in three decades.
This is a condition that impacts more than 1 million women – one in seven women and teenage girls – and for too long, too many women have been made to suffer in silence.
[They’ve] been told by many healthcare professionals, it has to be said, that this is “normal”. That it is a normal part of period pain or many other explanations for debilitating, crippling pain.
This is all about providing cheaper medicines and cutting-edge treatment to Australian patients generally, but [particularly] in the area of endometriosis, which has attracted such inadequate support for hundreds of thousands of Australian women.
This listing is beyond time.
The major contributor to the record has been the minimum temperatures, which averaged 17.2ºC over the spring season for the site, and were elevated by cloud cover, precipitation, and most notably, humidity.
Continue reading...As one of Australia’s worst paedophiles is sentenced to life in prison for 307 sexual offences, parents and victims demand answers
In 2021, the serial paedophile Ashley Paul Griffith wrote a letter to parents of children at a Brisbane childcare centre, where he was employed as the director, addressing claims on social media the centre was “involved in a pedophile ring”.
“We want to reassure families that the wellbeing and safety of you and your family are of paramount importance,” wrote Griffith, who had set up a tripod camera inside the centre so he could film his sexual abuse of young girls from two different angles.
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Canavan says under-16 social media ban has caused new generation to become passionate about democracy
Nationals senator Matt Canavan was loudly outspoken against the under-16 social media ban bill and voted against it – but as we know, the bill ultimately passed.
It has been great seeing people learn how the parliament works. And with that in mind, note that the social media bill is not yet law. Tomorrow morning it heads back to the House of Representatives because there were amendments passed in the Senate tonight. It then has to go to the governor general. But both these steps are almost certain to happen.
Thanks again for all of your help and support. We got some amendments on digital ID so it was not for nothing and the fight continues.
As it currently stands, underlying inflation is still too high to be considering lowering the cash rate target in the near term.
Continue reading...Attorney general Deb Frecklington acknowledges bill will likely increase number of children in state watch houses
Queensland’s Liberal National party government has acknowledged their signature youth crime legislation will “directly discriminate” against children, by limiting their “protection from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment”.
The bill is also “expected to have a greater impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, who are already disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system,” according to the government’s tabled statement of compatibility with human rights.
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Nuclear costings coming ‘in coming weeks and months ahead of election’: Taylor
The shadow treasurer was also asked when the Coalition would release the costings of its nuclear plan.
We will not be announcing it on your program this morning, as much as you might like me to.
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Labour market steadying as latest monthly CPI result looms
The consensus for much of the year has been the Reserve Bank’s 13-year high interest rates would squeeze demand in the economy, nudge up unemployment and help bring down inflation. And then it could start cutting its cash rate.
And then more recently, we’re actually starting to see [the labour market] tighten.
Continue reading...Wildlife group claims win as environment department says granting licence for bird was ‘an error’
A magpie made famous on social media may again be separated from his canine friends after a special carers’ licence was revoked.
The supreme court overturned the licence just months after it was granted to Molly the magpie’s Gold Coast rescue family that includes his best mates, dogs Peggy and Ruby.
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Continue reading...Girl, 17, given community service and driving suspension in state’s first use of Sophie’s Law
A mother who lost her unborn baby in a crash has hit out at a landmark sentencing after the teenage driver responsible avoided detention, saying it is “not enough”.
An emotional Haylee Loccisano expressed her frustration outside court after the 17-year-old girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was given community service and a driving suspension for the fatal crash under new laws.
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Continue reading...Risk of blackouts has receded in Sydney, while a WA bushfire has prompted emergency evacuation in parts of Shire of Dandaragan
The heatwave baking much of eastern Australia will rapidly make way for conditions offering the “perfect ingredients” for thunderstorms later this week, raising risks of heavy rainfall and even flash floods.
Temperatures reached the high 30s across much of western Sydney on Tuesday with Penrith’s 39.7C the hottest – about 12C above the November average. Similar readings were forecast for Wednesday, the Bureau of Meteorology said.
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The independent MP Zoe Daniel was on ABC News Breakfast earlier to discuss her alternative to the under-16 social media ban, which she introduced as a private member’s bill yesterday.
Daniel said her bill would implement an overarching statutory duty of care on social media companies “that goes to safety by design – but that in and of itself is not enough”.
What you need to make that work is the companies to assess the risks, mitigate the risks, be transparent about how they’re doing that.
The bill builds in penalties so if the companies do not comply, they could be fined up to 10% of global revenue. Also, their onshore executives could be held accountable for that … and the bill also has a provision to enable users to have control over the algorithm, as exists overseas, particularly in the EU …
[There are] obviously privacy concerns, and given the government’s had to pull their misinformation [and] disinformation – or their censoring the Australian public – bill from the Senate this week, we want to make sure we get strong, robust laws that don’t damage the [right to] privacy and make compulsory Australians having to have digital IDs.
Continue reading...Detectives investigate death of two-year-old girl in Innisfail, where temperatures peaked above 30C on Monday
Police investigating the death of a two-year-old girl at Innisfail in north Queensland believe the toddler had been inside a vehicle for several hours before she was found unresponsive on Monday.
The far north police Supt Mick Searle said detectives would undertake a “very complex and detailed” investigation into the girl’s death.
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Continue reading...Female almost the length of a shipping container was found dead on a drumline in August, primary industries department has revealed
The largest great white shark ever caught in Queensland’s shark control program died while pregnant with four pups, the primary industries department has revealed.
A female white shark was found dead on a shark-catching drumline near Gladstone in August. Queensland’s Department of Primary Industries took samples for research purposes and has been collaborating with researchers interstate, a spokesperson said.
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Continue reading...Police are investigating after the child died in Innisfail on Monday
A child has died after being found unresponsive in a vehicle in north Queensland.
Police officers were called to a vehicle in Innisfail about 1pm on Monday after reports a child had been found unresponsive.
Continue reading...Growing infestations along the Logan river pose ‘very high risk’ of spreading downstream, Invasive Species Council says
An increase in fire ant infestations along Queensland’s Logan River is raising concerns Australia’s worst invasive species could form floating rafts and spread downstream.
The Invasive Species Council advocacy manager, Reece Pianta, said governments should urgently ramp up eradication efforts along the Logan River, in south-east Queensland.
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Does the delay on gambling ad restrictions have anything to do with the demands of lobbyists?
Clare O’Neil said it wasn’t about lobbying, but “about making sure that we get this right”.
And the minister has pointed to previous attempts to scale back gambling advertising that have actually resulted in more gambling advertising. This is a delicate area, and we’ve got to get the balance right, and that’s what the minister is seeking to do.
These complicated matters, they just are. You know, if this was a really simple problem to fix, then it would have been fixed a long time ago.
I would say our government deserves credit for stepping up and saying we’re going to take action on this, and the minister [Michelle Rowland] is doing what is appropriate, which is diligently working through what the proposals will look like.
The minister is working with people, experts, stakeholders, others who will be affected by this legislation, and the government has said will come forward with … proposals early next year.
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