Posts Tagged ‘australian news’

Vic govt failing the environment: report

The Victorian government is taking the environment backwards with broken promises, poor vision and an inability to listen to the public, the state’s peak environmental lobby group says. A report by Environment Victoria says the Baillieu government, in its first 18 months in power, doesn’t consider environmental protection a priority and has no clear plan […]

Dodgy backs linked to psych problems

The 1.8 million Australians with dodgy backs are more likely to experience psychological distress and mental disorders, new figures show. The figures were revealed on Tuesday by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) in a web-based snapshot of back problems. One in 11 Australians, or 1.8 million people, had back problems in 2007-08 […]

QBuild staff in danger, oppn says

QBuild staff are expected to be next in the firing line, the Queensland opposition says. The state government’s construction and building maintenance business was earmarked for privatisation in Peter Costello’s interim audit of Queensland’s finances. Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk says rumours are spreading that there will be job cuts soon. Currently QBuild has 2500 employees […]

Art shop destroyed in Sydney fire

A fire has destroyed an art shop in Sydney’s inner west. Emergency crews were called to Marrickville Road in Marrickville about 4pm (AEST) on Monday and found the premises well alight. A 27-year-old man was not at home when a two-bedroom flat at the rear of the building was badly damaged. Views: 0

Elderly couple robbed at knifepoint

A man and woman in their 90s have been robbed at knifepoint in their home south of Brisbane. Police say two men entered the Inala house about 9.30pm (AEST) on Monday and threatened the 93-year-old man and 91-year-old woman with a knife. One of the thieves punched the 93-year-old man in the face. The thieves […]

Ex-deputy premier appointed to water body

Former NSW deputy premier Ian Armstrong has been appointed as chairman of a state government catchment authority. Primary Industries Minister Katrina Hodgkinson, a National, asked Mr Armstrong, a 74-year-old former Nationals leader, to head the Lachlan Catchment Management Authority (CMA). The catchment area in the state’s central west also overlaps with the former state seat […]

Half tonne of drugs worth $500m seized

Half a tonne of illicit drugs with a street value of $500 million have been seized during a police investigation in Sydney. Australian Federal Police deputy commissioner of operations Andrew Colvin and Customs and Border Protection deputy chief executive Mike Pezzullo will speak to the media about the operation in Sydney on Tuesday morning. The […]

Aust needs ‘quality’ defence for Asia era

Australia needs to spend more on defence to ensure a quality force that can meet the strategic challenges presented by rising Asian countries, a new research paper says. Australian Strategic Policy Institute analyst Rod Lyon said Australia could get by spending about two per cent of gross domestic products (GDP) on defence but it might […]

Free trips not costing us: Qld government

The Queensland government insists record numbers of people taking free trips on public transport under a new scheme are not eating into the budget. Transport Minister Scott Emerson says 75,000 people claimed free trips last week under the Newman government’s public transport incentive scheme. People who use their Go Card to pay for nine bus, […]

Private sector writes govt speeches: Oppn

The federal government has wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars on outsourcing speechwriting for ministers and senior officials, the opposition says. But Labor says the private sector can provide value for money in providing such services, especially during busy phases. According to the government’s AusTender website, at least $300,000 has been spent by government departments […]

Markets want Europe to match rhetoric

The need for Australia to stump up stimulus measures to cope with another global economic crisis is looking less likely if European leaders deliver on promises to protect their markets. Australia’s financial markets got off to a positive start this week after German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande released a joint statement […]

Super-trawler creates Tassie jobs

The operator of the controversial Australia-bound super-trawler the FV Margiris says it has hired 45 staff in struggling northwestern Tasmania. Seafish Tasmania says the new jobs will be in freezing and packaging fish on board the factory trawler, which is due in Devonport next month. Seafish director Gerry Geen says a further 10 positions will […]

Queensland dad delivers baby on kitchen floor

Panic turned to joy in heart-warming audio of a Brisbane father delivering his own baby on the floor of his kitchen with the help of an emergency services operator. Mount Gravatt resident Lachlan Goos called an ambulance when his wife Samnang went into labour around 4am (AEST) last Wednesday, Nine News reports. “They said to […]

Hells Angel charged after clubhouse raid

A senior Hells Angels member has been charged and drugs and a gun have been seized in a police raid on the bikie gang’s Melbourne headquarters. Officers from the Echo Taskforce executed a search warrant on Monday at the Hells Angels clubhouse at Alphington in the city’s northeast, as well as a neighbouring home owned […]

Pilots not trained for fatal Chinook flaw

Australian Chinook helicopters in Afghanistan had surged in a “porpoising” motion on several occasions, but the problem was not reported up the chain of command before a crash that killed a young Australian soldier, an inquiry has been told. Lieutenant Marcus Case, 26, was “ramp riding” in the back of a Chinook helicopter Brahman 1/2, […]

Fire chiefs confident of overtime solution

Fire and Rescue NSW says it is confident it will resolve a disagreement over overtime blowouts with the firefighters union before their next meeting with the industrial watchdog. The Fire Brigade Employees Union (FBEU) took the state government to the Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) on Monday, arguing that plans to cut $64 million from firefighters’ […]

Public servant nominated for Asia Bank

The federal government has nominated public servant Anthony Baker for a three-year term as an executive director of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) from November. Mr Baker would replace Phil Bowen, who served in the position from April 2007 until July this year. Australia has been a member of the ADB since it was set […]

Vital evidence queried in Rayney trial

Questions have been raised in court about the integrity of the police recording of evidence related to seed pods found in Corryn Rayney’s hair which are vital to the murder case against her husband, prominent barrister Lloyd Rayney. Rayney has pleaded not guilty in the Supreme Court of Western Australia to the wilful murder of […]

Qld bikie laws unconstitutional: lawyer

A lawyer representing the Finks bikie gang says Queensland’s anti-association laws are unconstitutional and will soon be struck down, as were similar laws in NSW and South Australia. Police are attempting to have the Gold Coast chapter of the club declared a criminal organisation and ban its members from associating. An application lodged in the […]

Syrian embassy closes Canberra doors

Nearly two months after Foreign Minister Bob Carr expelled two Syrian diplomats the country’s embassy in Canberra has closed its doors. Senator Carr took the extraordinary step of expelling Syrian Charge d’Affaires Jawdat Ali and another diplomat on May 29, giving them 72 hours to leave Australia. The expulsion order came after a massacre of […]

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