Category Archives: Canberra

Brittany Higgins kept dress unwashed for six months after alleged rape, court hears

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Higgins tells court she didn’t want allegation against Bruce Lehrmann to be a ‘media frenzy’ and wasn’t sure if making complaint would cost her her job

Brittany Higgins says she left the dress she wore on the night of her alleged rape untouched and unwashed for six months as she attempted to work out whether making a complaint would cause her to lose her job, a court has heard.

Higgins continued her evidence in the ACT supreme court on Thursday, also telling the jury she had felt “pressured from my workplace” to not pursue a complaint against fellow political staffer Bruce Lehrmann.

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Bruce Lehrmann’s lawyer accuses Brittany Higgins of ‘erasing’ details from night of alleged rape

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Steve Wyborn tells court Australians had been ‘sold a pup’ with Higgins’s allegations Lehrmann sexually assaulted her in Parliament House

Bruce Lehrmann’s lawyer has told jurors that Brittany Higgins “erased” key details from the night of her alleged rape inside Parliament House, saying the Australian public had been “sold a pup” over the allegations.

On Tuesday the trial of Lehrmann, a former political staffer, over the alleged sexual assault of Higgins inside Parliament House began in Canberra.

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Man incorrectly jailed for 58 days in ACT has no right to compensation, court rules

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Canberra court recognises South Sudanese refugee wrongly jailed but rules imprisonment not arbitrary nor a violation of Human Rights Act

A South Sudanese refugee who was wrongly jailed due to a “failure of the system” has lost an attempt to sue the Canberra court responsible for the error.

The man, now in his 30s, had fled the war-torn nation of his birth before his brothers were made child soldiers. He lived in a Kenyan refugee camp for 10 years before coming to Australia in 2005, the ACT supreme court heard.

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Clare O’Neil suggests Labor may legislate fines after Optus data breach – as it happened

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The Nationals want to get back to their roots – the regions.

The country party are launching a “regional listening tour” to find out what is affecting people in the country.

Migration is not the only solution to the challenges our regions are up against,” Littleproud said.

We need to look at what can be done now to help those Australians that are already in town.

We know distance is one of the greatest barriers to opportunity. So we’re coming to your town to create this opportunity to share your concerns and help us come up with the solutions.

For example, would a Regional University Centre stop our children from leaving town? Or could paying their HELP debts be the incentive they need to stay where we need them?

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Australian house prices falling at fastest rate since 1980s as ‘sharp’ downturn widens

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CoreLogic says every capital city except Darwin fell in August, with Sydney dropping 2.2%

Every capital city in Australia except Darwin is now in a housing downturn, according to a new report, with values falling at a trajectory not seen since the 1980s.

CoreLogic’s home value index shows national housing values are falling rapidly, after rising about 29% during a period of sharp growth.

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First government-backed pill testing clinic finds 40% of ‘cocaine’ contained no coke

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Canberra service examined 70 samples in August with 25% of potential users discarding drugs once made aware of what they actually contained

Australia’s first government-backed pill and drug testing service has found a majority of samples were tainted with other substances, with a quarter of people choosing to ditch their drugs after getting them checked.

In its first month of operation, Canberra’s fixed-site CanTest health and drug checking clinic examined 70 samples, with 18 people discarding their drugs once the results were in.

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Ukraine makes bid for Russian embassy land in Canberra after lease terminated

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Ukrainian ambassador, who is currently touring Australia to look at defence supplies, says his government will formally apply for Yarralumla site

Ukraine is looking to snap up a plot of land in Canberra that is potentially available after the National Capital Authority terminated the Russian embassy’s lease.

The NCA said this week it cancelled the lease because of its “use it or lose it” policy. More than a decade since Russia’s building plans were approved, construction has failed to progress. The capital authority gave Russia 20 days to vacate the property.

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Russia considering legal action after Canberra lease on new Australian embassy site terminated

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Lease terminated under ‘use it or lose it’ policy after Russian government failed to complete building within three years

The Russian government says it is considering legal action against a federal authority after it was ordered off the site of its new embassy in Canberra.

On Wednesday, the National Capital Authority said it had terminated the Russian embassy’s lease over a block of land in Yarralumla, a wealthy lakeside suburb in Canberra, and ordered it to clear the site within 20 days.

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Dutton says he was not aware of Morrison’s secret ministries – as it happened

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Ed Husic pushes for ‘brain regain’

Industry minister Ed Husic will this week host a series of five roundtable meetings with science and technology leaders in the lead-up to the federal government’s jobs summit, in a bid to kickstart what he called “brain regain” – attracting Australia’s bright minds working overseas to return home, to combat the so-called “brain drain”.

These discussions will also include ways to increase the representation of women and people of diverse backgrounds in skilled occupations. One of my priorities is on “brain regain” – encouraging Australian researchers and innovators to return home. I am interested to hear ideas on how this can be best achieved.

I can’t emphasise strongly enough that this is the start of engagement with these industry sectors. After the jobs and skills summit I will continue the work with industry leaders to ensure we apply practical solutions to accelerate Australia’s pathway to high-skilled, high-value economy.

He’s applied for a job and that’s coming with a significant degree of scrutiny, as it should do. That’s part of the territory if you’re going to put yourself forward for those roles.

If he felt the need to protect the environment from offshore drilling for gas off Sydney’s northern beaches and he felt he needed to swear himself in as minister, that’s something I support.

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Man charged with firearms offences after Canberra airport shooting

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Police say a NSW man, 63, will face court following Sunday shooting that led to evacuation of airport

A man has been charged with firearms offences after a shooting that prompted the evacuation of Canberra airport on Sunday.

A man was arrested at the airport after allegedly firing about five shots inside, some leaving bullet holes in terminal windows, at 1.30pm on Sunday.

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David Pocock to use Senate balance of power to push for waiving of ACT’s public housing debt

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Independent calls for $100m debt to be wiped as part of negotiations over Labor’s $10bn housing policy, which also faces Greens resistance

The new independent senator David Pocock will use his balance of power position in the Senate to push for the ACT government’s $100m public housing debt to be waived as part of negotiations over Labor’s new housing policy.

Legislation for the government’s new $10bn Housing Australia Future Fund also faces resistance from the Greens, with the party’s housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather saying the proposal is not “good enough” to secure support in the Senate.

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Veteran Australian political journalist David Barnett dies aged 90

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Barnett spearheaded the first official Canberra bureau of Australian Associated Press more than 50 years ago

Veteran federal political journalist David Barnett, who spearheaded the first official Canberra bureau of Australian Associated Press more than 50 years ago, has died aged 90.

Barnett became the national newswire’s first bureau chief in 1971 overseeing two journalists in what is now called Old Parliament House.

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Politics live: ‘difficult day for Australians with a mortgage’, Chalmers says; east coast gas shortages in spotlight

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The resources minister, Madeleine King, has taken the first step in reining in the big three LNG exporters by ‘triggering the trigger’

Labor unlikely to extend the fuel excise cut

Asked about the fuel excise in that same interview, Jim Chalmers said:

I’ve been really upfront with people, Charles, for some time now – before the election, during the election and after the election – and pointed out that extending that would cost some billions of dollars and the budget can’t afford that. We’ve inherited a budget which is absolutely heaving with a trillion dollars in Liberal party debt. And when interest rates are rising, it actually costs more and more to service that debt.

The fastest-growing area of government spending in the budget is actually servicing the debt that we’ve inherited because, as interest rates rise, it becomes more expensive to pay that back. So every dollar borrowed, whether it’s by our predecessors or by the new government costs more to pay back and we need to be conscious about that. We need to be responsible about that and upfront about that. And that’s what we’re being.

This isn’t about any one individual. This is about a difficult day for Australians with a mortgage, another difficult day I think everybody is bracing for the interest rate rise that the governor and the Reserve Bank board has flagged.

These decisions are taken independently by the Reserve Bank, by its board and by its governor. People are expecting this outcome today. But it won’t make it any easier.

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Scott Morrison ditches parliament’s return to speak at Japan event not starting until Thursday

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Former PM says he is ‘unable to attend’ first sitting week in Canberra as Labor calls for details about Tokyo engagement

Scott Morrison has skipped the first sitting week of parliament to speak at a conservative leaders’ summit in Tokyo that does not begin until Thursday afternoon.

The former Australian prime minister and member for Cook announced on Monday that “as a consequence” of having accepted the invitation he is “unable to attend the first three sitting days of the new parliament this week”, from Tuesday 26 July to Thursday 28 July.

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Governor general David Hurley apologises for video praising builder who renovated his home

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Queen’s representative says decision was made ‘on the spur of a happy moment’ and his words were not intended to be used in advertising

Australia’s governor general, David Hurley, has apologised for a decision made “on the spur of a happy moment” to pose for a photo with and provide a testimonial for a builder who completed his home renovation, which was later used in the company’s advertising material on its website and social media.

Hurley said he had received no benefit for his comments or the photo, had never intended them to be used in commercial advertising and had not made reference to his position as the Queen’s representative.

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Australia’s 35 newly elected MPs head to ‘parliament school’

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New MPs will hear from clerks, whips, former MPs, the outgoing speaker, the federal police and Asio on the inner workings of Parliament House

Australia’s 35 newly elected MPs have gone back to “school” in Canberra to learn about the inner workings of Parliament House before they officially take their seats in the chamber next month.

In a two-day session of what is coined “parliament school”, the new members of the House of Representatives are undertaking an induction that includes briefings from the clerks, whips, former MPs, the outgoing speaker, and government agencies, including the federal police and Asio.

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Australia’s first fixed pill testing site to launch in Canberra with hopes of sparking a national initiative

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Organisers say the centre is a ‘real watershed’ moment and will open two nights a week from 19 July

Australia’s first fixed pill testing site will be up and running within weeks, and the organisers hope it could be the start of a national program.

A pill testing trial at Canberra’s Groovin the Moo festival in 2019 potentially saved seven lives after the program detected “toxic” chemicals mixed into drugs.

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Australia news live updates: Albanese extends Covid funding as nation records 51 deaths from virus; energy supply will meet weekend demand, Aemo says

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NSW premier says health funding ‘a great start’ after national cabinet meeting; electricity reserves improve across National Energy Market; ASX plunges to lowest level since November 2020; nation records 51 Covid deaths. Follow live

The PM is making the rounds this morning, appearing on Sunrise and repeating his line that almost a decade of “delay and denial” under the former Coalition government led to the current energy crisis (I feel like this will be a recurring theme today.)

People want an end to the nonsense that’s gone on for the last decade.

You can’t fix 10 years of inaction in just 10 days but we are taking immediate action through Aemo to make sure that the lights stay on. At the same time, we’re making sure that we create the investment environment to make sure we get it right.

The gas is actually the property of the people of the state, whichever state that is, and there should have always been enough for the state and the country in question. It just seems to me to be very strange that there’s no gas for local people yet.

Coal-fired power generation is very old technology and very difficult for coal plants to cope with renewables coming onto the grid, basically, new renewables every minute

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ACT Senate race: can independents chase down Liberal incumbent?

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Former rugby union star David Pocock and academic Kim Rubenstein hope marginal status will bring Canberra and surrounds more funding

Canberra is one of the most progressive cities in the country. ACT residents are more likely to be highly educated, less religious and better paid than the average Australian, making it an outlier in federal politics.

But for the last 50 years, the two Senate spots in the Australian Capital Territory have been held exclusively by the Liberal and Labor parties. Now in 2022, two high-profile independents are vying to replace the Liberal incumbent, Zed Seselja.

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Plibersek says election ‘a test of leadership, not memory’ after Albanese mistake – As it happened

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The PM campaigned in Gilmore in NSW, while Labor leader is in Bass in Tasmania; Tanya Plibersek defends Anthony Albanese after opposition leader addresses his rates stumble; phone voting available for people in isolation on election day; NSW reports three Covid deaths and Victoria one. This blog is now closed

Scott Morrison just appeared on ABC breakfast TV, where he was asked about his relationship with the Liberal candidate for Gilmore, Andrew Constance.

Q: Andrew Constance said that you got the welcome that you deserved [in the region after the bushfires]. Emotions are still running deep in the bushfire-affected communities. Are you concerned about that being repeated today?

With Andrew Constance being part of my team and choosing to be part of that team, I think that that addresses it. Andrew and I spoke not long after the terrible experiences that particularly he and others and so many went through, and we worked the issue. We ensured that we addressed thing like small business payment and we got the money on the grouped and supported people in the areas that the federal government were responsible for. And I really thank Andrew for the way that we came together and really started to work together to address those issues. He’s a fine advocate for this part of Australia on the south coast of New South Wales.

He’s demonstrated that time again. And the fact that he wants to be part of my team and is running here as our Liberal candidate in Gilmore, I think that that addresses those issues fairly, squarely, that we’ve actually addressed the short comings that he was outlining at the time and we’ve gone forward with a strong plan to ensure that we’re providing that support. Not just in relation to the fires, but in relation to other natural disasters. And we’ve seen so many of those over the last three years.

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