Category Archives: Australian education

Australia news live: ‘weeks’ to restore production at Geelong refinery after blaze, Viva says; Chalmers warns of ‘big risks’ to inflation and growth

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Meanwhile ACT independent David Pocock is calling for a 25% tax on gas exports to fund welfare and housing. Follow today’s news live

Treasurer says capital gains changes and other tax reform still under consideration

Sticking with the budget, Chalmers said the government hasn’t made any decisions on capital gains tax reform.

We haven’t taken any decisions on those policies, whether the specific ones you mentioned [or others].

There’s more work to do on our options for tax reform in this budget.

The savings package won’t be exactly the same as what we would have been contemplating over the summer, but it will be a substantial savings package.

When we came to office the NDIS was out of control and it had strayed a long way from its original intended purpose.

It was growing around 22% when we got to office.

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Ben Roberts-Smith denies war crimes allegations – As it happened

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Defence Minister Richard Marles says the success of Australia’s alliance with the United States should not be measured against a single president or federal government in Canberra, insisting the longstanding ties will endure.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticised Australia for not assisting with the war in Iran, while federal Labor, including Marles and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, say the White House has not made any specific request for assistance.

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Australia news live: refinery fire will not lead to tougher fuel restrictions, PM says, though petrol production down by 40% at plant

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Follow updates live

Australia secures extra fertilizer and 100m extra litres of fuel, PM says

Albanese has also provided an update on Australia’s talks with its allies in Asia to shore up imports of fuel and other goods affected by the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

The advice that we have received today is that 80% of diesel production is continuing, 80% of aviation fuel is continuing, ongoing.

It has been slowed down just slightly because of the circumstances which are there, but 60% of petrol production [is] proceeding today as well.

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News live: Labor dismisses Tony Abbott’s calls for Australia to join war; Queensland MP Jimmy Sullivan found dead

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Former PM asks ‘What is the point of having armed forces if they’re not to be used to support our allies in a just cause.’ Follow updates live

Head of IMF says Iran war will permanently scar global economy even if peace is reached

The head of the International Monetary Fund has warned that the Iran war will permanently scar the global economy even if a durable peace deal in the Middle East can be reached.

But now, even our most hopeful scenario involves a growth downgrade. Even in a best case, there will be no neat and clean return to the status quo.

Penny Wong’s previous statements, whether it’s concerned or gravely concerned, have had no effect.

But cancelling more than a billion dollars in Israeli arms contracts – that would not only respond to the moral situation of the appalling Israeli military attacks, it would also have the benefit of putting a very real material pressure on Israel to pull back from what is a disastrous, illegal, immoral war in Lebanon that is threatening the entire globe’s peace.

We should not be buying weapons that have been tested by Israeli defence manufacturers in conflicts like Gaza and Lebanon, and we should not be contributing any weapons parts.

Right now it also would have the important additional benefit of making it clear to Israel that this comes at a direct and real cost to them.

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Labor accused of avoiding promise to rein in controversial Morrison-era university fees scheme

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Greens amendments to force new watchdog to scrutinise uni fees and the Jobs-Ready Graduates scheme rejected by federal government

The federal government is being accused of dodging promised reforms to bring down soaring university fees, after rejecting efforts to have them scrutinised by a new watchdog.

On Monday, legislation to establish the independent Australian Tertiary Education Commission (Atec) passed the Senate with a number of amendments, including to improve its resourcing and ensuring it had a focus on research.

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Teachers in Victoria strike for first time in 13 years, with classes cancelled at about 500 public schools

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Australian Education Union members to rally outside state parliament in dispute over pay and conditions

Classes have been halted across Victoria as thousands of striking public school teachers, principals and education support staff prepare to descend on state parliament for a rally over pay and conditions.

According to the Australian Education Union’s Victorian president, Justin Mullaly, up to 500 schools would either be closed or “significantly affected” as a result of the first strike in the state’s public school system in more than 13 years.

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Liberals have ‘a lot of work to do’ after SA wipeout, Anne Ruston says – As it happened

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Australia not ‘contemplating’ fuel rationing but state and federal governments have powers, Bowen says

State governments also had fuel rationing powers, Chris Bowen said.

When I was a kid … in the 80s in Sydney, I remember petrol rationing was done by state governments – the state governments do have powers there.

Yes, the Commonwealth government, under the fuel emergency act, has powers.

It’s not designed to be invoked lightly. It really has powers primarily around defence and health, in the first instance, to ensure that those key areas are getting diesel that they need, but also other forms of fuel.

I would need to be satisfied that there’s a real shortage and that the powers under that act are useful.

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Australia news live: Tropical Cyclone Narelle poised to hit Queensland coast within hours with wind gusts up to 250km/h

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Tropical cyclone expected to make landfall in far north Queensland within hours. Follow today’s news live

Waves of near-record heights smash Cairns coastline

One of the challenges posed by Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle is the lack of weather monitoring infrastructure in remote parts of Cape York.

Winds of that speed are pretty hard to imagine if you haven’t experienced them before. They are just so, so strong, capable of uprooting really large trees or completely stripping them of their branches …

It can also cause extensive damage to properties in the path of those very strong wind gusts as well as power outages.

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Australia news live: luxury car tax change could seal EU trade deal; far north Queensland braces for severe weather

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Jim Chalmers hints concession on threshold for imports could finally lead to an agreement. Follow the latest updates live

Two flights from Dubai land in Sydney and Melbourne

A second commercial flight landed in Sydney last night from Dubai and the first made its way to Melbourne from the Middle Eastern hub.

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International students accuse Australia of treating them like ATMs after fees for one visa double without warning

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Union says students blindsided after non-refundable visa fee rose from $2,300 to $4,600

International students say they feel like “ATMs” after the federal government quietly doubled application fees for temporary graduate visas, making Australia’s costs the most expensive in the world for graduates hoping to stay onshore after completing their studies.

The non-refundable visa fee rose from $2,300 to $4,600 without prior warning on Sunday, placing Australia well in excess of competitors including New Zealand (A$1,406), Canada (A$262), the UK (A$1,665) and the US (A$661).

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Australia news live: SA Labor pledges $100k stamp duty waiver for ‘empty nesters’; Burke says Hanson’s Lakemba comments a national security risk

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The home affairs minister says the One Nation leader was frustrated with the Muslim community because it ‘didn’t give her what she wanted’. Follow live updates

Police investigating the mistaken kidnapping of grandfather Chris Baghsarian are appealing for information about suspicious car fires that could be related to the case, AAP reports.

Hopes are fading of finding the 85-year-old alive, who was taken captive more than a week ago when three men stormed his Sydney home and bundled him into an SUV.

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Taunts, harassment and assaults: landmark report finds racism at Australian universities is ‘systemic’

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Survey by Australian Human Rights Commission found universities failed to meet duty of care, while complaints processes were ‘Kafkaesque’

Racism is “systemic” at Australia’s universities, according to a landmark report found students have mocked their Palestinian peers with shouts of “terrorism”, some students have been followed by campus security and First Nations students have been compared to “petrol sniffers” in lecture halls.

The report also found Jewish students were fearful to attend classes, with one harassed for wearing their kippa walking to class and another who described people screaming “send them to the camps” at a group of Jews on campus.

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Teenager charged with murder after 17-year-old boy stabbed to death in Sydney’s north-west

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The victim was treated by NSW paramedics for wounds to his thigh but died at the scene

A 15-year-old boy has been charged with murder after a teenager was allegedly stabbed to death behind a high school.

Police said a 17-year-old boy died from stab wounds to his thigh following a confrontation at a park in Sydney’s north-west about 4.20pm on Monday.

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Academics who say they are ‘pro-white’ and have ‘ethnic conception’ of Australia turn spotlight on Sydney’s Campion College

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Higher education regulator investigates Catholic institute after comments by academics, including endorsing the White Australia policy

An influential Catholic college in Sydney is under investigation by the higher education regulator over a series of comments made by two of its prominent academics supporting the White Australia policy and calling for Anglo-Celtic Australians and Europeans to become a “supermajority” in the country.

The federal education minister, Jason Clare, said the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (Teqsa) was “undertaking a compliance process” with Campion College in relation to a number of comments made by Stephen McInerney, a dean of studies, and Associate Prof Stephen Chavura, a senior lecturer.

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Coalition announce emissions policy after joint party room; more magic sand products recalled over asbestos contamination – as it happened

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Total fire ban in parts of New South Wales

While a storm system continues to affect parts of New South Wales’ east, the state’s west faces extreme fire danger.

I expect it will be pretty much what the Nationals have wanted all along because it’s been really clear that they have set the agenda in terms of the energy and climate policy of the Liberal Party.

I’m genuinely concerned and genuinely disappointed that this has happened because we do need to take action on climate change.

I think my a lot of my community will be going ‘Why on earth has the Coalition done this if they are seeking to ever take back seats’ like mine?

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Bus chaperone kept working at school during months-long police investigation into alleged child sexual abuse

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Exclusive: Victorian education department apologises to mother who alleged her nonverbal child was sexually assaulted by the man. He denied the allegations and no charges were laid

A school bus chaperone who allegedly sexually assaulted a nonverbal child continued working with students for months during the subsequent Victorian police investigation, prompting an apology to the girl’s mother from the state’s education department.

The allegation was denied by the chaperone and did not lead to charges. But Victoria’s education department apologised to the mother last year for failing to implement risk mitigation strategies during the police investigation.

In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800; adult survivors can seek help at Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helpline International

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Multiple ACT schools shut after alert over asbestos in coloured sand products

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Testing and remediation to take place in 15 schools after a consumer safety recall was issued for coloured sand used in sensory play and arts and crafts

More than a dozen primary and preschools in the ACT have shut their doors, and a special school in Brisbane has made a snap closure, after an asbestos warning was issued for a range of colourful children’s sand products imported from China and sold at leading Australian retailers.

On Friday , the ACT’s education minister, Yvette Berry, confirmed 15 schools and six preschools would be fully closed, up from three earlier in the morning. Nine schools and preschools would be partially closed to multiple cohorts while testing and remediation took place.

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Australia politics live: Greens say secret Nauru deportations ‘not how any democracy should behave’

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Shoebridge accuses Labor of being ‘addicted to secrecy’. Follow today’s news live

Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with some of the best overnight stories before Krishani Dhanji takes the controls.

Asio chief Mike Burgess gave a speech at the Lowy Institute in Sydney last night in which he said there were “at least” three countries whose governments were prepared to carry out assassinations on Australian soil. Asked whether it was too alarming, Burgess said that it was “incredibly important” for Australians to understand the dangers the country faced.

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‘Diabolical’: why Australia’s teacher shortages are among the worst in the world – and who is suffering most

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Regional and disadvantaged schools are bearing the brunt of the crisis, with almost two-thirds of teachers reporting high levels of stress

Mathew Burt has been principal at Broome Senior High School for less than a decade, yet he’s one of the longest-serving school leaders across the Kimberly.

After spending most of his teaching career in Perth, Burt decided to make the tree change north in 2018 with his wife and two children. He said teacher shortages have hit all of Western Australia but, the more regional you go, the worse the crisis gets.

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All fail Caesar: students at eight schools taught wrong topic for final year 12 history exam

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Queensland checking all 172 schools sitting exam with pupils expected to claim special consideration after studying the wrong Roman emperor

Year 12 students from at least eight schools in Queensland were taught the wrong topic for their final history exams and authorities are now checking with 172 schools to see if any more were affected.

Students were meant to study Julius Caesar, but the affected pupils instead learned about his nephew Augustus, according to the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority.

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