Artikel über Australia

Exclusive: Government should back projects that prioritise renewables to protect consumers from ongoing price shocks, they sayGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastFormer oil and gas industry leaders, including senior executives from BP and Shell, are warning the Albanese government that Australians risk ongoing price shocks and higher costs if it prioritises fossil fuel development in response to the global energy crisis.Sixteen ex-executives and professionals – who had worked for companies including Woodside, Inpex, Exxon Mobil and Esso – have urged the government to reject calls for fast-tracked gas and coal extraction, arguing it would do nothing to improve the nation’s liquid fuel security. Continue reading...

Spokesperson says just two out of 14 Australians remain in communication, after CCTV footage showed Israeli navy boarding vessels in international watersGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe family of a Newcastle man among at least six Australians onboard boats that were intercepted by Israeli navy personnel in international waters has issued a tearful plea for his safety and lashed out at the Australian government for not intervening.More than 50 boats set sail to Gaza from Italy on Monday as part of the Global Sumud flotilla in the hope of delivering 500 tonnes of aid and volunteers to the Gaza Strip, which remains under naval blockade by Israel. Continue reading...

Syrian officials say a group of Australians are ‘awaiting a solution’ as Albanese government refuses to repatriate themThe Trump administration says it is in “active communication” with countries, urging them to repatriate citizens stranded in Syria, while the Australian government maintains its hardline stance towards Australian women and children detained since the fall of Islamic State.A group of four women, their nine children and grandchildren left al-Roj camp, in Syria’s north-east, last Friday in a bid to return to Australia, with reports on Thursday morning that the Albanese government’s refusal to help them has left them stuck in Damascus. Continue reading...

Human rights commissioner says alleged jailing highlights the ‘growing risks of transnational repression’ in AustraliaGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralia’s human rights commissioner has said the Chinese student who was allegedly jailed for six years by Chinese authorities for joining protests in Sydney underscores the “very real and growing risks of transnational repression affecting people in Australia – including international students”.Commissioner Lorraine Finlay told Guardian Australia that while she couldn’t comment on the circumstances of individual cases, “no one should fear punishment abroad for exercising their lawful rights to free expression and peaceful protest here”. Continue reading...

Foreign affairs minister says China has agreed to facilitate exports of jet fuel to ease supply disruptions. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastGood morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Nick Visser with the main action.Penny Wong has been busy on her latest overseas trip, saying China has agreed to negotiate on jet fuel sales to help ease the global oil crisis. Continue reading...

The fuel crisis is seeing more voters keen to shift to renewable energy rather than stick with fossil fuelsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA majority of Australians support taxing profits from gas exports and extending the cut to the fuel excise, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll, despite Anthony Albanese on Wednesday ruling out a new tax on existing gas export contracts.The poll also found the fuel crisis is seeing more voters keen to shift to renewable energy rather than stick with fossil fuels. Australians also say they’re already cutting back on travel, switching to public transport and reducing their use of aircon and heating amid the global fuel uncertainty. Continue reading...

Rise in electricity demand in first quarter of 2026 was moderated by record output from rooftop solarGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastMore datacentres and warmer conditions helped push electricity demand to record highs in the first three months of the year, according to Australia’s Energy Market Operator, while growth in batteries kept average wholesale prices down.Electricity demand – from households, business and industry – reached record levels of 25GW in Q1 2026, an increase of 1.2% compared with the same quarter last year. Across the grid, this growth was offset by record output from rooftop solar. Continue reading...

Cocaine use also reaches record highs, Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission figures showGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastMethamphetamine use in Australia has almost doubled in the past decade and stimulants are being taken at record highs, new wastewater monitoring reveals.On Wednesday evening the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (Acic) released its latest annual report after testing wastewater samples from 64 treatment plants across the country between August 2024 and 2025. Continue reading...

Albanese defends plan forcing Meta, Google and TikTok to make deals with Australian news publishers through a levy The Trump administration has described Australia’s moves to make big tech companies pay for news online as “extortion” but Anthony Albanese defended the plan by saying it was about protecting and rewarding media outlets for the work they produce.Labor’s plan to encourage Meta, Google and TikTok to make deals with Australian news publishers, or face a 2.25% levy, is likely to be supported by the Coalition and Greens in parliament. But a bigger problem may be the ire of Donald Trump, who has strongly opposed extra regulation being imposed on US-based tech companies. A major tech industry lobby group on Wednesday urged the White House to consider retaliatory trade measures. Continue reading...

Financial markets are betting the Reserve Bank will hike interest rates for a third straight meeting next Tuesday•Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastInflation jumped to 4.6% in the year to March, from 3.7% the month before, in what experts say is the start of an Iran war-linked fuel shock that will ripple through the economy over coming months.Financial markets are betting the Reserve Bank will hike interest rates for a third straight meeting next Tuesday, as officials struggle to manage the “nightmare scenario” of containing inflation even as growth is expected to slow sharply. Continue reading...

Nuclear submarine mentioned in part of king’s speech that emphasised defence ties. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastGood morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it’ll be Nick Visser with the main action.Consumer price data coming out today is expected to show the sharp shock that the US-Iran war has dealt to our economy (and our wallets). Continue reading...

One Nation outperforms the Coalition for the first time, while the rightwing populist party’s leader has a positive rating among all age groupsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA majority of surveyed Australians approve of Pauline Hanson’s leadership of One Nation, giving her a higher job approval rating than Anthony Albanese and Angus Taylor, as the Guardian Essential poll finds the rightwing populist party is outperforming the Coalition for the first time.The results come as Australians are becoming more pessimistic about the country and the economy, with the majority of respondents saying they expected things to get worse in coming months. Continue reading...

Government’s draft news bargaining incentive scheme includes 2.25% levy on local revenues of digital giantsAnthony Albanese has urged Google, Meta and TikTok to make deals with Australian media outlets to avoid a dedicated 2.25% levy on local revenues, warning digital giants should not be able to exploit the work of journalists to boost profits.Releasing an exposure draft for the government’s news bargaining incentive (NBI) scheme on Tuesday, the prime minister said platforms who sign new deals with publishers to pay for news content would receive offsets of between 150% to 170% from the new levy. Continue reading...

David Brat represented Virginia in the House of Representatives for two termsThe White House has nominated David Brat, a former Republican member of the US House of Representatives, to be the next ambassador to Australia.Brat represented Virginia in Congress and served two terms before he was defeated by a Democrat in 2018 in a close race. He is currently a vice-president of business relations at Virginia’s Liberty University. Continue reading...

Club chief says ‘anodyne acknowledgements’ can be ‘overworked’. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastGood morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Nick Visser with the main action.The RSL has announced it will review its guidance on welcome to country addresses at Anzac Day services after Indigenous leaders were booed at three dawn services on Saturday. Continue reading...

Former prime minister says policies will lose support without continued lower prices, while Malcolm Turnbull points to some progress in USGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastKevin Rudd has described Donald Trump’s cuts to support for green industries as “unfortunate”, warning that Australians would conclude the clean transition was “bullshit” if it did not offer tangible benefits to their lives.But – in some of his first comments since finishing his term as Australia’s ambassador to the US – the former prime minister said climate policies would have staying power if they delivered affordable prices, a reliable energy supply and new job opportunities. Continue reading...

Queensland and NSW set for lower than usual rainfall in May, June and July, while temperatures in most of the country likely to be higher than normalFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastLarge parts of south-east Australia look set for drier and hotter conditions over the next three months as a potential El Niño weather phenomenon takes shape in the Pacific Ocean.Much of Queensland and New South Wales are forecast to have lower than usual rainfall in May, June and July, with almost the entire country likely to experience hotter than average maximum temperatures. Continue reading...

Beyond cutting back on driving, households are slicing deeper into their budgets, with some even forgoing healthcareFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAs soon as petrol prices started to rise in response to the Middle East conflict, many Australians – already grappling with high living costs – changed their spending habits.Beyond cutting back on driving, households are slicing deeper into their budgets, with some even forgoing healthcare. Continue reading...

Foreign affairs minister begins another diplomatic tour to secure Australia’s fuel and energy supply chains. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastGood morning, Nick Visser here to guide you through the day’s news. Here’s what’s on deck:The foreign minister, Penny Wong, will travel to Japan today, part of a diplomatic trip to secure fuel supplies that will also include visits to China and South Korea. She said the effort will help “ensure Australia is prioritised as a reliable energy partner”. Continue reading...

Follow the day’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe shadow treasurer, Tim Wilson, has condemned the booing of welcome of country remarks at Anzac Day events on Saturday.Wilson offered some of the strongest criticism of the hecklers to be delivered by a Coalition frontbencher. In a post on X yesterday, he wrote:Thank you to all our veterans who fought for our country. ANZAC Day is a a day to honour all those who fought and died for our country. Booing any Australian who served or their story is unacceptable, disrespectful and unworthy of the ANZAC legacy.The story of this land began thousands of years ago. Project Australia is a continuing story of one land, one people with one destiny. Let us be worthy of our full inheritance, and those that sacrificed for respect based on our common humanity & the equal dignity of all people.It is incredibly disappointing and completely inappropriate to boo at an Anzac Day service. Whatever your views on a welcome to country, ANZAC Day is our most sacred day … If you have strong views about that, there are many other ways in a free country that you have an opportunity to express your views. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Report shows cost of first appointment rose $20 in one year, with steeper rises in Western Australia, South Australia and TasmaniaGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastPatients are increasingly going without medically necessary dermatological care, the head of the Consumers Health Forum said, as new report reveals the rising cost of the specialty in Australia.Dermatology is expensive and getting pricier, with an average first visit now costing an adult patient without concessions $230 out-of-pocket, while follow-up appointments cost almost $190, the report from health directory Cleanbill found. Continue reading...

Repatriation attempt comes after group was turned around when leaving camp in February. Albanese government says it’s not assisting cohortGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastFour Australian women and nine of their children and grandchildren have left al-Roj camp in north-east Syria, seeking to return to Australia.The group is reportedly travelling across Syria by road to the capital Damascus, under the control of the Syrian government. Continue reading...

A poll shows most Australians think the country is either in a recession or will be soon. Economists have a different viewGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralian households were already on edge before the bombs started falling in Iran.The cost of living was high and inflation was accelerating again, forcing the Reserve Bank to start ratcheting up interest rates. Continue reading...

Message on Telegram account has sparked alarm among diaspora groups, with one calling for the embassy to be closedGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastTehran’s embassy in Canberra is promoting a recruitment drive for a paramilitary campaign to defend Iran from US forces, with the Australian federal police now looking into the matter.As the war approaches the two-month mark, the embassy’s website and Telegram channel this week posted a message that instructed people on how to register for a voluntary drive to fight for their country, known as the “Janfada” – or “sacrificing life” – program. Continue reading...

Liberal frontbencher says the country’s ‘sovereign capabilities’ have been eroded. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastCyber criminals have hacked into the Sri Lankan finance ministry’s computer system and siphoned off US$2.5 million, Agence France Presse reports.It is the most amount of cash ever stolen by hackers from a state institution in the debt-saddled country, which is recovering from a crippling economic crisis in 2022 after Colombo defaulted on its US$46 billion external debt.To put it bluntly, if ANZUS is going to continue for another 75 years, we need to invest in our industrial base and our defence force. Continue reading...

Partner of soldier accused of war crimes says the couple discussed possibility of moving overseas to ‘create some normalcy in our lives’Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastBen Roberts-Smith was planning to leave Australia to live overseas and had a business class flight out of the country booked in four days’ time when he was arrested at Sydney airport this month, court documents allege, with investigators telling a court “his willingness to return to Australia to face prosecution cannot be judged”.Roberts-Smith was ultimately granted bail last week under strict conditions, a move opposed by prosecutors who said there was potential concern he was a flight risk and might try to avoid ever having to face trial for a series of alleged murders he committed in Afghanistan. Continue reading...

Acclaimed Brisbane-born writer was known for his work exploring his own childhood, great myths and colonial AustraliaDavid Malouf, the acclaimed Australian author of books including Ransom, An Imaginary Life and the Booker prize-nominated Remembering Babylon, has died aged 92.Malouf died on Wednesday, his publisher, Penguin Random House Australia, said in a statement on Thursday. Continue reading...