Timor-Leste hit by 6.4-magnitude earthquake that was felt in Darwin

Quake struck to east of Timor-Leste, with residents in Northern Territory capital reporting strong shaking

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 struck off the coast of Timor-Leste and was so strong it was felt in Darwin, Australia.

The quake hit at 11.36am local time (12.06pm Darwin time), according to Geosciences Australia, and prompted some people in the capital of Dili to flee buildings, though a tsunami was ruled out.

Continue reading...

Anzac Day commemorated; ABC reviewing presenter’s social media activity – as it happened

Deputy Labor leader says Chinese Solomon Islands base would make Australia ‘less safe’; Anzac Day services and marches return for the first time since pandemic began; Peter Dutton compares events in Ukraine to ‘the 1930s’; ABC presenter Fauziah Ibrahim under social media review; at least 17 Covid deaths recorded. This blog is now closed

Sticking with Brendan O’Connor for a moment, the shadow defence spokesperson says Labor would have “grave concerns” if a Chinese military base were established in Solomon Islands.

This comes after Scott Morrison yesterday said the establishment of a base there would be a “red line”, without saying how his government would actually respond, with O’Connor saying it was just “post-facto rhetoric”:

We understand what the prime minister says by that. But, really, it’s post-facto rhetoric. We need to see better investment and better engagement in the region ... rather than react after the fact.

Given the change in tone and rhetoric and words used by the prime minister, we will seek a briefing from the government. We’ve been getting updates all the way through, and we appreciate that.

It was a smaller sum. [The government’s plan] would go no way to provide support for veterans. It would not increase the frontline staff required to respond to their needs. It would do in no way enough to support those people who’ve put themselves in harm’s way.

People are waiting for days, weeks, months just for some of the more simple applications and claims.

Continue reading...

Barnaby Joyce wrongly claims $1.5bn funding for second Darwin port has already been legislated

Bill that includes Northern Territory infrastructure funding did not pass before parliament was dissolved

Deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce has wrongly claimed that an infrastructure package that includes funding for a second port in Darwin has already been legislated, despite the budget bills lapsing when parliament was dissolved on Monday.

Speaking in the Northern Territory on Tuesday, where the Coalition is targeting two Labor-held seats, Joyce was talking up the government’s regional funding commitments, including $2.6bn allocated to the NT through a regional development plan announced on budget night.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

NT police say officer fired gun six times at Indigenous man allegedly armed with a spear

Nineteen-year-old fighting for his life in Darwin hospital after incident at Palmerston on Tuesday morning

An Indigenous teenager is fighting for his life in a Darwin hospital after allegedly being shot at by a police officer six times during an incident in the Northern Territory city of Palmerston.

Two officers attended a park in the suburb of Gray about 9am on Tuesday morning where they found the man allegedly armed with a spear, NT police said.

Continue reading...

Boxing Day cyclone alert for Northern Territory

Concerns a tropical low will strengthen as it moves south towards the west of Darwin

There is concern a tropical low brewing off northern Australia may reach cyclone intensity west of Darwin on Boxing Day.

A severe weather warning was issued for parts of the Northern Territory’s Arnhem district early on Christmas morning.

Continue reading...

Australia’s Christmas Day weather forecast: sunshine, storms and a scorcher

Brisbane braces for a downpour, Darwin is on cyclone watch, Perth to endure 43C, and other capitals in for a warm and partly cloudy day

Most Australian capitals are in for a warm and partly cloudy Christmas with a chance of a shower in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra.

Sydney was told to expect a maximum of 30C and a warm night with a minimum of 21C, while Melburnians would be able to enjoy a moderate high of 20C before temperatures dropped to 13C.

Continue reading...

Australia Covid live news: NSW to give update; Victoria records 24 cases; nation on edge as more than 13 million under lockdown

Victoria records 24 local cases as state wakes to tougher restrictions; NSW warned cases could hit 1,000 a day; ACT and parts of NT under lockdown. Follow all the day’s news

We are now just waiting for NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian to step up for the daily Covid-19 press conference where we learn the state’s daily numbers.

We are expecting that in about 10 minutes, so stay tuned.

Sydney radio station 2GB is reporting a staff member from the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Syndey has tested positive to Covid-19 and may have been infectious while working.

A staff member at RPA Hospital in Sydney has tested positive to COVID-19. The worker was fully vaccinated but potentially infectious while working on August 10, 11, 12 + 13 in the nuclear medicine department. There has been no transmission to other staff or patients to date.

Continue reading...

Covid Australia live update: Perth joins Sydney and Darwin in lockdown as AstraZeneca offered to under-60s

NSW is bracing for an escalation in local Covid cases as the state government prepares a support package for businesses. Follow latest updates

Okay, so originally we were going to hear from the Queensland leaders at 9am, but this has been pushed back to 11am.

It’s unclear if this is because any big announcements are expected, but it’s worth noting the daily numbers for the state haven’t been published yet, which is a little unsual.

I brought you some quotes earlier from chief medical officer Paul Kelly’s interview with ABC.

Here is a clip if you are keen to hear the words straight from the source!

"AstraZeneca was always available for anyone, in terms of the regulation, from TGA, for anyone over the age of 18. There's a preference for Pfizer until the age of 60."

Chief Medical Officer @PKelly_CBR speaking to @lisamillar after another change to the vaccine rollout. pic.twitter.com/j3YZ3CAVPb

Continue reading...

Australia Covid update: outbreaks sweep nation as NSW reports 30 new infections, and Perth, NT and Qld record local cases

Sydney’s Bondi cluster grows to 110, Virgin Australia flight attendant tests positive, Darwin locks down, WA imposes restrictions and Queensland reports outbreak of Alpha variant

New South Wales reported 30 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday as a string of new outbreaks across Australia forced states and territories to introduce sweeping new restrictions, and prompted urgent calls for vaccine eligibility to be widened.

On the first full day of lockdown for the entire greater Sydney region since May 2020, NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian warned the city to prepare for a further increase in cases over the coming days as the Bondi cluster which sparked the new outbreak grew to 110.

Continue reading...

Northern Territory election: Labor claims victory but majority hangs in the balance

NT will have to wait at least another day to find out if Michael Gunner’s team has polled enough votes to form a majority government

Michael Gunner’s Labor team is expected to retain government in the Northern Territory, where counting continues in a knife-edge election.

The Northern Territory will have to wait at least another day to find out if incumbent Labor has polled enough votes to form a majority government.

Continue reading...

Biloela Tamil family’s deportation to Sri Lanka prevented by last-minute injunction

Peter Dutton says family of four ‘not owed protection’ after they were removed from deportation flight in Darwin thanks to court injunction

A Tamil asylum-seeker family whose deportation was halted in mid-air on Thursday night do not deserve protection from Australia, Peter Dutton has said.

The family of four were put on a non-commercial flight from Melbourne bound for Sri Lanka about 11pm on Thursday.

Continue reading...

Yothu Yindi Foundation chief says Australian governments ‘dining out’ on Aboriginal misery

Denise Bowen says governments spending money on urban centres and tourists instead of tackling disadvantage

Aboriginal people are prisoners to incompetence and maladministration by governments that spend on urban centres and tourists instead of tackling rampant disadvantage, the head of the Yothu Yindi Foundation has said.

Speaking at the Garma festival in northeast Arnhem Land, the chief executive of the foundation, Denise Bowden, took aim at the Northern Territory government and the commonwealth, which she said had responsibility for the NT, and for the “rivers of gold” that its GST formula sends to Darwin.

Continue reading...

NT argues using spit hoods on Don Dale detainees ‘justified’ despite banning them

Government continues to defend civil claims from former inmates by arguing restraint of minors ‘reasonable’

The Northern Territory government is still fighting civil claims from Don Dale detainees by arguing the use of spit hoods on minors was “reasonable”, despite having since banned their use and agreeing to royal commission recommendations to outlaw the practice.

The government has also argued Don Dale officers were trying to keep a young Indigenous detainee “safe” when they left him for almost an hour with his hand handcuffed above his head to a basketball court fence.

Continue reading...

Darwin shooting: man charged with four counts of murder

Four men died and a woman was injured in this week’s shooting rampage in Darwin

Northern Territory police have charged the man suspected of a shooting rampage in Darwin with four counts of murder.

Four men died and a woman was injured after being shot in the leg on Tuesday night.

Continue reading...

Family and friends mourn as first victim of Darwin mass shooting named

PhD student and taxi driver Hassan Baydoun was shot while taking a meal break in apparently random attack

Details of the victims of a mass shooting in Darwin have been revealed as Northern Territory police say they expect to soon lay charges against the alleged gunman.

One of the victims, a PhD student and taxi driver Hassan Baydoun, had never met the accused gunman, his cousin says.

Continue reading...

Darwin shooting: Northern Territory police order parole review after rampage

Police say alleged gunman, who was on parole and wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet, may have been looking for someone

The Northern Territory chief minister has announced a review of every person currently subject to electronic monitoring after a man wearing one of the bracelets allegedly killed four people in an hour-long rampage through Darwin on Tuesday.

The NT police chief, Reece Kershaw, said on Wednesday police believed the alleged gunman, a 45-year-old, was searching for someone who was interstate. Police said at least some of the victims may not have known the gunman.

Continue reading...

Witnesses describe panic and carnage in Darwin during hour-long shooting rampage

First reports of a man firing shots came at motel just outside the city centre about 5.50pm

Witnesses of a shooting in Darwin that left four people dead and a woman injured have described scenes of panic after the gunman went on an hour-long rampage.

Northern Territory police arrested the suspected shooter, described as a Caucasian man aged 45, wearing high-vis workwear, on Tuesday night. He remained in hospital under police guard on Wednesday.

Continue reading...

Darwin shooting: at least four people dead and two injured

Northern Territory police say a 45-year-old suspect is in custody as witnesses report seeing gunman with a pump action shotgun open fire at motel

At least four people are dead and two injured in a mass shooting in Darwin’s city centre.

NT police have arrested the suspected shooter, described as a caucasian man about 45-years-old, wearing high-vis workwear.

Continue reading...

Cyclone Trevor: racism claims denied as Northern Territory begins clean-up

  • Claims fly-in fly-out workers given better accommodation than Indigenous evacuees
  • Cyclone Veronica continues to threaten WA’s Pilbara region

As the Northern Territory begins its big mop-up after Cyclone Trevor, local authorities have hosed down racism claims concerning evacuation efforts.

Trevor forced mass evacuations before it made landfall on Saturday morning as a category four system, with destructive winds gusting up to 250km/h.

Continue reading...