Category Archives: Chris Minns

Hundreds gather for candlelight vigil at Bondi Beach to pay tribute to victims of shopping centre attack

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Anthony Albanese says vigil was to honour victims and ‘mourn for all the years of joy they should have known’

Hundreds of people attended a candlelit vigil at Bondi Beach on Sunday evening to remember the victims of Australia’s worst mass killings in years with speeches, music, and a minute’s silence.

Six people were killed and many more injured when Joel Cauchi carried out his murderous rampage on 13 April. At least 12 others – including nine women – were taken to hospital after suffering stab wounds in the attack, and six of them remain in hospital. Police officer Amy Scott shot Cauchi dead at the scene.

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Sydney church stabbing: social media pages ‘infamous’ for spreading misinformation taken down

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Premier Chris Minns is alarmed at the ‘wildfire’ of rumour and graphic content online after Wakeley and Bondi stabbings

Social media pages “infamous” for spreading misinformation have been taken down after the Wakeley church stabbing attack, the New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, said on Thursday, while expressing alarm at the “wildfire” of rumour and graphic content still proliferating on tech platforms.

On Monday night YouTube was live broadcasting Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel’s service at the Assyrian Christ the Good Shepherd church. After the stabbing occurred, video clips spread through WhatsApp groups before police had arrived on scene.

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Meta and X ordered to remove church stabbing content – as it happened

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The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, says he has been briefed by the Australian federal police following an alleged stabbing at a Wakeley church overnight.

Albanese wrote on X:

I have been briefed by the AFP and our security agencies regarding the shocking incident at Wakeley’s Christ the Good Shepherd Church.

As police continue their investigations, Australians are thinking of those who have been injured, the first responders who rushed to help and the police who worked to restore order.

They are coming out on a united front irrespective of religion, political [or] ideological views, and I think that is really important to send a message [that] we are collectively one community …

We are a fairly big mixed community now in NSW but it doesn’t mean we can’t live side by side.

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Bridget Archer leads criticism after Peter Dutton compares pro-Palestine protest to Port Arthur massacre

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Tasmanian Liberal MP labels comments ‘wholly inappropriate’ after PM says he was ‘taken aback’ by opposition leader’s speech

Peter Dutton has drawn widespread criticism, including from one of his own MPs, for comparing the 1996 mass murder of 35 people at Port Arthur to a pro-Palestine protest at the Sydney Opera House.

The Tasmanian Liberal backbencher Bridget Archer labelled Dutton’s comments “incredibly disrespectful” and “wholly inappropriate”.

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NSW outlaws gay conversion practices and makes it harder for young people to get bail

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LGBTQ groups welcome legislation passed after marathon overnight sitting, but critics line up to warn bail laws will put more children in jail

Gay conversion practices have been outlawed in New South Wales and it will be harder for teenage offenders to get bail after two laws passed the state’s parliament overnight.

The laws will, separately, ban conversion practices such as religious “straight camps” that attempt to change someone’s sexual orientation and introduce an extra test for some young people seeking bail.

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NSW premier backs top prosecutor who says criticism of sexual assault cases is ‘preposterous’

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Sally Dowling announced audit of all sexual assault cases after judicial concern over ‘secret policies’

The New South Wales premier has backed the state’s top prosecutor after she said it was “preposterous” to suggest sexual assault cases were being run that were doomed to fail.

The director of public prosecutions (DPP), Sally Dowling SC, on Wednesday revealed all sexual assault matters currently committed for trial would be audited by senior prosecutors.

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NSW premier warns ‘pathetic’ neo-Nazis they will be exposed after attempted rally in Sydney park

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Gathering of at least 20 black-clad, masked men at Artarmon Reserve follows confrontation with police resulting in six arrests on Friday

The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has doubled down on his push to tighten anti-vilification laws after a group of neo-Nazis attempted to hold another rally in a public park on Sunday morning.

Police responded to the gathering of at least 20 black-clad, masked men who gathered at Artarmon Reserve at 9am on Sunday.

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Chris Minns says police not to blame for Aboriginal imprisonment as country mayors push for crime inquiry

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Exclusive: ‘We can’t just put it all on the police’s shoulders’ says NSW premier as Aboriginal people make up 59% of juvenile detention population

The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has defended the way police interact with young Aboriginal people and said the force is not to blame for disproportionate Indigenous incarceration rates.

Speaking in Bourke, in far western NSW, Minns also said he was reluctant to meet the demands of the Country Mayors Association, police union and some Nationals MPs to hold an inquiry into regional crime.

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NSW premier defends police conduct after dozens arrested at pro-Palestine rally in Sydney

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Chris Minns says police acted ‘responsibly’ despite condemnation from civil liberties groups

The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has rejected accusations police were heavy-handed when they arrested people at a pro-Palestine rally in Sydney on Tuesday night.

NSW police arrested and charged 23 people who attended the protest at Port Botany directed at the unloading of a ship owned by Israeli company ZIM, which has supported the Israeli government in its fight with Hamas in Gaza.

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BoM provides El Niño update – as it happened

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Birmingham says China ‘doesn’t appear to be acknowledging the facts’

Shadow foreign minister Simon Birmingham is speaking with ABC RN and is asked about sonar pulses from a Chinese warship that left one Australian naval diver injured.

The Australian navy and Australian defence force operates always with professionalism, and I’m confident that Australia’s version of events is a credible.

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Rift widens between NSW and federal Labor as Chris Minns demands state’s ‘fair share’

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Ahead of national cabinet, NSW premier waits for answers from Albanese government on protest policing and infrastructure funding

Tensions between the New South Wales and federal Labor governments are rising ahead of the final planned national cabinet of the year, with the state’s premier, Chris Minns, insisting he was not “whingeing” as he demanded more funding for police and infrastructure.

Minns said the federal government had so far failed to respond to his request for help paying the bill for policing the frequent protests sparked by the Israel-Hamas war, or for the “disappointing” infrastructure cuts unveiled last week.

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Chris Minns rules out repurposing more golf courses for green space after Moore Park move

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NSW premier defends decision to cut course in half as ‘unique case’ driven by site’s ‘proximity to middle of Sydney’

The NSW premier, Chris Minns, has said he will not slash golf courses across Sydney as golfers reel from the “unique” decision to repurpose half of Moore Park golf course for a major new inner city park.

When asked if the New South Wales government could give a solid commitment about not changing the use of existing golf courses on public land, Minns told reporters on Monday: “Sure … we don’t have plans for that.”

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Sydney pro-Palestine rally to go ahead on Saturday despite premier’s concern over ‘bad faith actors’

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Chris Minns says he believes protesters do not want ‘hate speech within their march’ but final decision on event is up to NSW police

Saturday’s planned pro-Palestine march through the streets of Sydney will go ahead unless police launch an 11th-hour legal challenge amid rising concern about unrest.

The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, said a final decision on the event would be up to the police while warning the government had been briefed by senior officers who had expressed concern about the event due to “changed circumstances”.

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‘Grossly irresponsible’: peak Islamic body condemns Peter Dutton’s comments on pro-Palestine rally

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Australian National Imams Council said opposition leader’s comments were ‘designed to inflame tensions’

Australia’s peak body representing Muslims has labelled comments by Peter Dutton over pro-Palestine protests “dangerous, divisive, misleading and grossly irresponsible”.

The Australian National Imams Council spokesperson, Bilal Rauf, also rejected the opposition leader’s “broad, sweeping” call for the visas of antisemitic protesters to be cancelled.

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Experts slam ‘disproportionate’ NSW approach to pro-Palestine rallies as government threatens ‘full force’ of law

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Human Rights Law Centre’s Alice Drury says response from police and government to rallies sets ‘very dangerous precedent’

Human rights and legal experts have condemned the New South Wales government’s “escalating”, “unnuanced” and “disproportionate” rhetoric and response to pro-Palestinian protesters following a rally at the Opera House.

NSW authorities have vowed to stop marches from proceeding while protesters have promised to “march next week and every week” after a “static demonstration” in Hyde Park this Sunday.

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Chris Minns open to a NSW voice to parliament regardless of federal referendum outcome

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Exclusive: The premier says state with largest First Nations population should not be the only one without a truth and treaty process

New South Wales could implement a voice to parliament similar to the South Australian model regardless of the outcome of the federal referendum in October.

The premier, Chris Minns, told Guardian Australia he was open to a state voice to parliament or one of the other models being implemented as part of truth-telling and treaty processes under way in other Australian jurisdictions.

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NSW to enter talks to extend life of Eraring, Australia’s largest coal-fired power station

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Opponents call on Minns government to use the funds it would pay Origin to instead hasten rollout of rooftop solar and batteries

The Minns government will “engage” with the owner of Australia’s biggest coal-fired power station for a “temporary” extension of its operating life, prioritising short-term energy security over emissions reductions.

A final cost and length of extending operations of the 2,880-megawatt Eraring power plant near Newcastle would hinge on negotiations with owner Origin Energy, the government said on Tuesday.

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NSW premier open to ‘pattern-book’ housing across Sydney as solution for crisis

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Unlikely alliance pushes for more medium-density housing of the sort typically found in inner-city suburbs

The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, says he is open to a proposal to pre-approve “pattern-book” housing designs that can be rolled out in Sydney suburbs – an idea being championed by an unlikely alliance of unions, big business and universities.

The Housing Now group, launched on Monday, argues that 30 suburbs need to be, in effect, transformed into inner-city Surry Hills by adding higher density houses and medium-rise apartment buildings.

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Josh Murray made donation to NSW transport minister’s campaign before she appointed him as secretary

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Emails released to parliament show former Labor staffer made $500 donation to Jo Haylen’s campaign before party won election

The New South Wales transport secretary, Josh Murray, made a donation to Jo Haylen’s campaign before she picked the former Labor staffer to lead her department.

Limited details of the $500 donation were contained in emails that were released to parliament between members of Haylen’s team discussing talking points related to the appointment of the secretary.

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NSW Labor accused of ‘fundamental breach of trust’ over logging in promised koala national park

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Tensions are escalating in state forests near Bellingen, where a protesters’ camp is locked in a standoff with a heavy police presence

The New South Wales government has been accused of stalling on a promise to create a national park to protect koalas as tension mounts over logging in the state’s northern forests.

Protesters and police have been engaged in a standoff, with both groups setting up forest camps, as logging takes place in the Newry state forest near the town of Bellingen, on the mid-north coast.

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