Category Archives: South Australia

Sailor rescued from rough seas in Great Australian Bight during solo circumnavigation attempt

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Xavier Doerr was winched to safety after spending the night battling giant waves and severe winds west of Kangaroo Island

A solo sailor has been rescued having spent the night battling giant waves and severe winds in the Great Australian Bight after running into trouble hundreds of kilometres from help.

Xavier Doerr, 22, was winched to safety late on Saturday after he was forced to trigger an emergency beacon shortly before 5pm the previous day while attempting to complete a nonstop and unassisted circumnavigation of Australia.

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Daughter charged with parents’ murders allegedly poisoned them with her own insulin, Adelaide court told

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Raelene Polymiadis allegedly deliberately overdosed Brenda Anderson and Lynton Anderson, both aged 94, court hears

The daughter of an elderly Adelaide couple has appeared in court charged with their murders with allegations the victims were deliberately overdosed with prescription medication.

Raelene Polymiadis appeared in Adelaide magistrates court on Wednesday. Prosecutors alleged the 62-year-old had administered her own insulin to Brenda Anderson and Lynton Anderson, both aged 94.

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Babysitter charged with murder over Adelaide toddler’s death

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Ronan Davies, who was 17 months old, died in June after being taken to hospital with severe head injuries

A man who was babysitting an Adelaide toddler has been charged with the boy’s murder.

Ronan Davies was taken to hospital with severe head and other internal injuries on 7 June and died on 9 June.

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Lawyer claims she wasn’t told for months that Aboriginal teen tried to take her life in youth detention

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Incident at South Australia’s Kurlana Tapa centre was downplayed, lawyer claims, but government says safety and wellbeing of children is ‘highest priority’

A lawyer representing children detained at South Australia’s only juvenile justice centre claims she was not informed for almost two months when an Aboriginal teenager attempted to take her own life in custody.

The Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement (ALRM) lawyer who represents the girl in her early teens said the seriousness of the incident in early 2023 at Kurlana Tapa Youth Justice Centre was not conveyed until eight weeks later.

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Federal budget on track to smash surplus forecasts as cash balance hits $19bn – as it happened

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Melbourne hit by magnitude 4.6 earthquake

Melburnians were shaken by a magnitude 4.6 earthquake at 1.32am.

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Children locked in cells for up to 23 hours at South Australia’s youth detention centre

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Child protection watchdog says distress at Kurlana Tapa caused by prolonged detention is leading to self-harm

Children are being locked in their cells for up to 23 consecutive hours partly due to staffing shortages at South Australia’s youth detention centre, with the system in crisis amid a spate of “shocking” self-harm incidents, the state’s guardian for young people says.

Shona Reid, the guardian and youth detention inspector, said children were becoming so distressed due to prolonged detention that they were harming themselves at the Kurlana Tapa Youth Justice Centre.

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Police launch murder investigation into death of Adelaide toddler

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The 17-month-old boy identified as Ronan died of head injuries from a suspected assault earlier this month

A toddler has died of head injuries from a suspected assault in Adelaide earlier this month, with police launching a murder investigation.

No one has been charged over the death of the 17-month-old boy identified as Ronan.

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‘Unseasonable’ cloud band could double monthly average rainfall in areas of central Australia

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BoM forecasts show system to move from northern WA toward eastern states while alps in south-east could receive more snow

A large cloud band is set to bring unseasonable wet weather to parts of Australia as it moves eastwards across the country this week.

The Bureau of Meteorology’s forecasts suggest a rain band developing over northern Western Australia on Sunday into Monday will move towards the eastern states over the first half of the week.

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South Australian cabernet sauvignon selling for $40 named best in world

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The 2021 Riddoch Pastoralist beats wines from more than 20 other countries at the International Wine Challenge

A South Australian cabernet sauvignon that sells for $40 (£21) has been named the best in the world at the International Wine Challenge.

The 2021 Riddoch Pastoralist beat wines from more than 20 other countries to win the International Cabernet Sauvignon trophy.

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Cold snap with damaging winds, hail and snow forecast for Australia’s south-east

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Severe weather warnings for wind gusts of up 100km/h issued for Tasmania, Victoria and NSW, BoM says

A cold front is set to sweep across Australia’s south-east in the coming days, bringing icy winds and steep drops in temperature.

The front is brushing the southern tip of Western Australia and is expected to strengthen and intensify as it approaches south-eastern Australia.

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Richard Boyle claims judge wrong to deny him whistleblower protections

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Former ATO worker lodges appeal against a South Australian district court decision not to grant him protection

Richard Boyle claims a judge was wrong to deny him whistleblower protections, and says Australia’s laws should have shielded him from alleged acts done in preparation to expose the conduct of the Australian Taxation Office, court documents show.

Boyle has lodged an appeal against a key decision in the South Australian district court, denying him the protections of the nation’s Public Interest Disclosure Act, which left him facing criminal trial on 24 charges – including the alleged use of his mobile phone to take photographs of taxpayer information and covertly record conversations with colleagues.

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Man, 46, missing and believed dead after shark attack in South Australia

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The search for the surfer continues after paramedics were called to Walkers Rock Beach near Elliston on Saturday morning

A man is missing and believed to have died after being bitten by a shark on the west coast of the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia.

South Australia Police have confirmed that a 46-year old man was surfing when he was attacked by a shark, and is now missing.

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Police scour South Australian tip site for head and limbs of man whose torso was found in bin

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The torso of alleged murder victim Geoffrey McLean was discovered at a vacant block at Salisbury South in October

Police scouring an Adelaide landfill site for further remains of a man whose dismembered torso was found in a wheelie bin concede luck will need to be on their side.

Search teams converged on the Uleybury site on Monday with the gruesome task of locating the head and limbs of alleged murder victim Geoffrey McLean, whose torso was discovered at a vacant block at Salisbury South in October.

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South Australia becomes first state to enact Indigenous voice to parliament

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Premier hails ‘momentous legislation for our First Nations people’ while acknowledging it does not have unanimous support in state parliament

South Australia has become the first state to legislate for an Indigenous voice to parliament.

The Labor government’s bill passed the House of Assembly in a special sitting on Sunday.

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South Australian government faces fresh criticism for hosting Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour

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Human rights campaigners argue there is no difference between thwarted Saudi bid to sponsor Women’s World Cup and its rebel golf funding

The South Australian government’s support of a Saudi-backed golf tournament has come under renewed criticism after the kingdom’s failed attempt to sponsor the Fifa Women’s World Cup.

The LIV golf tour, which has reportedly received billions from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, will make its Australian debut at the Grange Golf Club in Adelaide next month despite being internationally condemned as an attempt to “sportswash” the regime’s human rights abuses.

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ACT plans hefty restrictions or possible ban on ‘insidious’ sports gambling ads

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Attorney general Shane Rattenbury says territory may take action unilaterally if federal government does not act

The ACT government has outlined plans to legislate hefty restrictions and a possible outright ban on sports gambling ads with senior ministers warning the “pernicious” promotions have caused undue harm to the community.

The confirmation comes as the federal crossbench MPs Monique Ryan and Rebekha Sharkie add their names to a growing list of politicians uncomfortable with the volume of gambling ads and calling for federal government intervention to reduce harm.

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ABC staff to walk off job next week – as it happened

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Acting prime minister and defence minister Richard Marles has spoken to ABC News Breakfast this morning after the $368bn announcement of the Aukus deal yesterday.

In response to the reaction from China accusing Australia, the US and Britain of embarking on a “path of error and danger”, Marles defends making a decision that is in Australia’s national interest:

We are seeking to acquire this capability to make our contribution to the collective security of the region and the maintenance of the global rules-based order.

And one of the issues within our region we are witnessing the largest conventional military build-up that the world has seen since the end of the second world war. And it’s not Australia who is doing that, but that shapes the world in which we live.

We’re completely confident these are in complete compliance with non proliferation.

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Most Australian states face sharp power bill rises, despite government’s intervention

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Energy regulators issue draft default market offer, which set cap for this year’s increases

Power bills for households in three states will rise as much as 23.7% from 1 July if the Australian Energy Regulator’s draft determination, announced on Wednesday, is confirmed. Prices in Victoria may rise by almost a third.

The AER chair, Clare Savage, said the increases were “significant” but they could have been as much as 40% to 50% without the federal government’s intervention in December to cap domestic gas and black coal prices.

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Liberal MP says search for Aukus submarine nuclear waste dump site in his electorate is premature

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Rowan Ramsey ‘amazed’ government starting selection process in 12 months, given 33-year life of Virginia class reactor

Rowan Ramsey, the Liberal MP who faces the prospect of a nuclear waste dump in his South Australian electorate, has said he is “amazed” the government will begin the search in just 12 months for a facility that won’t be required for decades.

The comments come as green groups rally against a key component of the Aukus nuclear submarine acquisition: that Australia is required to dispose of the waste generated by its Virginia class submarines and the new SSN-Aukus submarine.

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Weather tracker: record-breaking heat in Australia

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Australia swelters while in Brazil there have been record downpours

Southern Australia has recorded significant heat over the past week with maximum temperatures widely reaching in excess of 35C (95F), as well as more than 10C above the climatological average. Many stations in the south, across Western Australia and South Australia, recorded temperatures in excess of 40C with Eucla and Red Rock Points recording their highest February temperature of 46.8C on 22 February. Two large blocking high pressure systems south and west of Australia have allowed heat to stall across western and southern parts. This will be pushed further eastwards through this week, although lessening in severity.

In addition to this, many parts of the west coast have had high sea surface temperature anomalies throughout February, about 1-2C above normal. Because of this there is a chance that further cyclogenesis off the north-west coast may take place in the coming weeks – bringing further tropical storms.

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