Category Archives: Australian Capital Territory (ACT)

ACT becomes first Australian jurisdiction to offer free universal access to abortions

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The healthcare program will be available for surgical and medical abortions up to 16 weeks’ gestation

The ACT has become the first Australian jurisdiction to offer free universal access to abortion services, prompting calls for the rest of the country to follow suit.

From Thursday, ACT residents who wish to access abortion healthcare will be able to do so without charge, regardless of whether they have a Medicare card.

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When does daylight saving end in NSW, Victoria, Tasmania and the ACT?

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Daylight saving comes to an end on Sunday, as much of Australia’s south-east coast enjoys a well-deserved sleep in

Lucky folks across much of eastern Australia will welcome an extra hour of shut-eye as daylight saving comes to an end on Sunday.

Clocks in New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and the ACT will lose an hour at 3am, joining the same time zone as Queensland.

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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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Neo-Nazis and trans rights protesters clash in Melbourne; bushfire alert for parts of Great Ocean Road – as it happened

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Melbourne forecast to reach 37C while northern regions of the state could exceed 40C. This blog is now closed

Federal government welcomes decision to hear MH17 case

The federal government has welcomed the International Civil Aviation Organization Council’s decision to hear Australia and the Netherlands’ case against Russia for the downing of flight MH17.

We have maintained since May 2018 that the Russian Federation is responsible under international law for the downing of Flight MH17.

We now look forward to presenting our legal arguments and evidence to the ICAO Council as we continue to seek to hold Russia to account.

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‘Snail rail’: ACT chief challenges Albanese government to upgrade Canberra-Sydney train line

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Exclusive: High-speed rail advocates support call from Andrew Barr, saying even gradually beginning track duplication could cut travel times in half within a decade

ACT chief minister, Andrew Barr, has challenged the federal government to upgrade the snail-like Canberra-Sydney train line, calling for cheaper upgrades as a “no brainer” even if a true high-speed line has to wait.

Noting that the federal government has earmarked the Newcastle-Sydney corridor as the first priority for its new High Speed Rail Authority, Barr even raised the prospect of developing part of a Canberra corridor at the same time.

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Australia’s high-speed rail should be rolled out in small stages with Sydney to Canberra first, experts say

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Exclusive: Progressive upgrades of existing sections will pave the way for a proper link between major cities, lobby group says

Labor should pursue its high-speed rail ambition by progressively upgrading sections of the existing train corridor, starting between Sydney and Canberra as the cheapest and quickest way to deliver fast trains by the end of the decade, transport planning veterans argue.

Committing to an inaugural section of track that is relatively straightforward to build – as opposed to the tunnelling megaproject required for the Sydney to Newcastle corridor earmarked as a priority by the Albanese government – will prove high-speed rail as a concept in Australia after decades of inertia, according to advocacy group Fastrack Australia.

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Australia news live: landmark report confirms wage theft by universities; treasurer calls for changes to super laws

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Staff underpaid more than $80m in past three years. Follow the day’s news live

Fresh push to ban ‘asbestos of the 2020s’

There’s a fresh push to ban engineered stone commonly used in kitchen benchtops and linked to an incurable lung disease likened to asbestosis, AAP reports.

Instead of planning a family, we’re planning my funeral. I used to install kitchen benches. People liked engineered stone because it was cheap. But the dust got into my lungs causing deadly, incurable silicosis.

That’s too high a price for anyone to pay. Nothing will save my life but if you join the campaign to stop the importation and manufacture of engineered stone, you can help save someone else’s. Please.

Australian workers like Kyle are dying because of engineered stone.

The companies flooding our markets with this cheap and nasty material know that, but to them profits are more important than people’s lives.

It is incredibly distressing … when we hear about these horrific murders and we have to do more to prevent [them from] happening.

I often say we have to start responding to the red flags before more blue police tape surrounds the family home.

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Australia news live: back safeguard mechanism to ‘put climate wars behind us’, Labor urges Coalition and Greens – as it happened

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‘The onus is on Labor’ to explain why it needs more coal and gas: Bandt

There’s some discussion about possible alternatives – one suggestion is to pause new developments on gas and coal developments while reforms to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 have been hammered out.

We are up for good-faith discussions and proposals like that are coming from people like the Climate Council, from The Australia Institute. I’ve seen the Australia Conservation Foundation out saying there are serious problems with the government’s proposal.

You can’t put the fire out while pouring petrol on it.

I don’t think the penny has quite dropped with the government how much things are have moved on. 66% of people between 18 and 34 back our position – don’t want new coal and gas mines opened. 57% of the general population. Things have moved on.

I know Labor talks a lot about history, but the students who are marching in the streets at the moment, behind banners saying, “No new coal and gas” were in primary school in 2009. They do not want it, no one can understand why we are coming up to the year anniversary of the floods in Lismore, people cannot understand why Labor says they want to open up new projects.

Why does Labor want to go to the wall to open new coal and gas projects? These are huge climate bombs. They’ve got a very – I think it is an untenable task...

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ACT government provides $4.3m for inquiry into handling of Bruce Lehrmann case

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The inquiry to be headed by Walter Sofronoff will hold as many hearings in public as possible

The inquiry into the handling of the Bruce Lehrmann case has been handed $4.3m to conduct its work and has signalled it will hold as much of its hearings in public as possible.

The inquiry head, former judge Walter Sofronoff KC, will also be supported by the Queensland silk Erin Longbottom KC and barrister Joshua Jones as senior and junior counsel assisting.

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Social media campaign linked to Chinese government spreading disinformation about Australian politics, thinktank says

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Posts amplify content about sexual assault and misconduct allegations in Parliament House to undermine trust in political system, researchers say

A coordinated foreign influence campaign linked to the Chinese government is using social media to undermine confidence in Australia’s democratic system, according to researchers at a Canberra-based defence thinktank.

The researchers believe the network is operating from within China and is either spreading disinformation about Australian politics or amplifying concerns about political scandals. They reference rape allegations made by the former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins and against the former attorney general Christian Porter, which he strongly denies.

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Thousands of tonnes of recycling to be transported interstate after fire at ACT processing facility

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Materials Recovery Facility near Canberra had processed 60,000 tonnes of waste a year which will be moved to other capital cities

Thousands of tonnes of waste will have to be transported from the Australian Capital Territory to other metropolitan capitals after a fire at one of the largest recycling centres in Australia.

The fire largely destroyed the Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in Hume on Monday night – another setback for the nation’s recycling efforts, which have been struggling to keep pace with demand.

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Canberra recycling centre burns down in ‘significant setback’ for waste reduction efforts

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Cause of blaze unknown, but an incorrectly recycled battery or vape has not been ruled out

A fire that destroyed a recycling centre in Canberra’s south will cause a major setback to waste reduction efforts in the ACT and New South Wales.

Firefighters battled a blaze at the Hume facility that started late on Monday night and raged through to the early hours of Tuesday morning.

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Bruce Lehrmann trial: ACT’s top prosecutor complained about Linda Reynolds’ ‘disturbing’ conduct

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Shane Drumgold also says Reynolds’ husband was seen conferencing with Lehrmann’s defence ‘during the course of the entire trial’

The Australian Capital Territory’s top prosecutor privately complained of the “disturbing” conduct of former cabinet minister Linda Reynolds during the trial of Bruce Lehrmann, including her alleged coaching of his defence team, her attempt to solicit transcripts and the presence of her partner in court.

The Guardian revealed this week that the director of public prosecutions, Shane Drumgold SC, had sent a letter of complaint to the chief of police, Neil Gaughan, on 1 November, just after the trial against Lehrmann collapsed.

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PM urges climate ‘wake up’ amid floods; man mauled to death by dogs – as it happened

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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange fights extradition from Britain to US, where he is wanted on criminal charges. This blog is now closed

We now have more details from NSW authorities about the four-vehicle crash on Sydney’s Anzac Bridge shortly before midnight last night, which killed two people.

NSW police have named the two victims as a 25-year-old female from the local area and a 38-year-old man from Sydney’s south-west. A police representative has been speaking to reporters:

At about 11:45 last night, there was a minor collision on the Anzac Bridge involving two vehicles. A 25-year-old female and a 38-year-old male were exchanging details or doing what you need to do after you’ve had a minor collision.

At that point, there’s been another two vehicles that have become involved in that stationary collision. One was a taxi and the second was a Commodore. Tragically, the way those vehicles have collided into the stationary cars has impacted with the two pedestrians who were out on the road exchanging details and unfortunately those two people have been killed.

The last 12 hours have seen an absolute tragic number of road trauma incidents in NSW. Six people have lost their lives. Six families are grieving the loss of family members.

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Push for ‘victim advocates’ to support alleged rape survivors in court following Bruce Lehrmann trial

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Former federal court judge says independent advocates needed to ‘hold the hand of the victim-survivor at the time of greatest trauma’

There are growing calls for a major overhaul of the way rape complainants are treated within the justice system in the wake of the Bruce Lehrmann trial, with a former federal court judge urging governments to appoint victim advocates to support women through the process.

Prosecutors in the ACT on Friday announced they would not seek a second trial of Lehrmann because of the “significant and unacceptable risk to the life” of Brittany Higgins who is receiving mental health support in hospital.

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Covid-19 Australia data tracker: coronavirus cases, deaths, hospitalisations and vaccination

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Guardian Australia brings together all the figures on Covid-19 cases, as well as stats, charts and state-by-state data from NSW, Victoria, Queensland, SA, WA, Tasmania, the ACT and NT. Here you can also find the numbers on the vaccine rollout and fourth dose booster vaccination rates.

In September 2022, federal and state governments began releasing data once a week, on Fridays, rather than daily. As a result, Guardian Australia has aggregated the data released before that date to weekly values, to make the new figures comparable with the old.

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Flood warnings in Victoria and NSW – as it happened

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Birmingham against a windfall tax for oil and gas companies

Birmingham says he is opposed to a windfall tax for oil and gas companies to help assist with rising energy prices.

We don’t think that simply slugging a tax in relation to companies is going to do anything for the energy prices of Australians. You’ve got to fix supply in the gas market to provide for genuine outcomes there, and those types of taxes will actually only hurt you in the longer term because they will act as an investment disincentive and you have less supply for the future.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has previously said limiting global heating to 1.5C as set out in the Paris agreement meant there can be no new oil, gas or coal investment beyond 2021.

A windfall tax is not about shoring up gas supplies, but generating revenue which can re-invested in new renewable energy projects and other decarbonisation projects.

I strongly support recognition and have done for many years and, of course, the debate around the voice has come along subsequent to early efforts to try to achieve Indigenous recognition. When it comes to the model for the Voice, I do think Australians deserve to see more detail and have more answers about how it will work, how it will be constituted and how it will make a difference. I understand the very passionate views by those who argue for the voice and I don’t wish to see them disrespected in any way, but I also acknowledge that there are strong Indigenous views of doubt and question about whether the voice will be actually effective in achieving any substantial change on the ground in relation to Indigenous disadvantage.

We are going to be asked to support a constitutional change for a model that is as undefined by the government in relation to that model. It is not unreasonable to want to see the detail of the model.

An economy growing as strongly as possible, keeping unemployment as low as possible – those are the things that our government managed to achieve, with strong economic growth in our last year in office, with unemployment down to 50-year lows, creating the conditions for economic growth to help to drive productive wages growth.

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News live: Penny Wong condemns Russia’s deadly missile attacks; Deliveroo to end operations in Australia

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Foreign minister says ‘Australia stands with Ukraine’ following reports a Russian missile landed in Polish territory killing two people. Follow the day’s news

ABC Radio asked Simon Birmingham about reports from this morning that a Russian missile has hit Poland near the Ukraine border: The shadow foreign affairs minister says:

This is deeply, deeply troubling news.

If an accident occurs it can result in a real escalation ... it shows just how dangerous a game Russia is playing.

We can’t expect instant miracles, but the ultimate test of dialogue will be the outcomes that are received if this dialogue is successful, to see breakthroughs in regard to those trade barriers... and also critically the just treatment of Australian’s detained in China.

And then of course challenges in terms of engagement within the region, that we must continue to argue for China to respect international law, international rules and norms

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Army helicopter sparked massive Canberra bushfire after crew stopped for toilet break, inquest hears

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ACT coroner’s court is investigating 2020 Orroral Valley bushfire, which was started by helicopter’s search light

The crew on an army helicopter that started Canberra’s devastating 2020 bushfires were landing for a toilet break when they inadvertently ignited the monster blaze.

An inquest began at the ACT coroner’s court on Monday with evidence from the man in command of the helicopter that started the fire.

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Albanese meets Chinese premier Li Keqiang at summit – as it happened

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Victorian opposition vows to restrict gas produced in the state from being exported in a bid to reduce household bills; Anthony Albanese speaks to Chinese premier Li Keqiang at East Asia Summit gala dinner. This blog is now closed

Two historic military planes collided and crashed to the ground Saturday during a Dallas airshow, federal officials said, sending plumes of black smoke billowing into the sky.

Officials didn’t immediately make clear how many people were on board the aircraft or if anyone on the ground was hurt. Nonetheless, an ABC News producer – citing reporting from a colleague – said on Twitter that at least six people, all crew members, were feared dead after the crash.

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