Category: World News

Milton Orkopoulos used his position as a councillor and government minister to gain the trust of young boys before giving them drugs and sexually abusing them, jurors have heard. During her closing address in the former Labor MP’s trial on Thursday, crown prosecutor Cate Dodds said one victim had been enticed

A series of deserted railway tunnels running beneath Sydney’s CBD will soon transform into an electronic dance music and light extravaganza.  The 900-metre underground labyrinth will open to the public for the first time for this year’s Vivid festival set to kick off in May. “Secret passageways will be lit,

The Albanese government has announced five union-linked appointments to the industrial umpire in a bid to “restore balance”. The former Coalition government made 27 permanent appointments to the Fair Work Commission – 26 coming from an employer background. As a result, there are now 29 commission members with an employer

People on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast and in western Sydney are being urged to watch for measles symptoms after three cases of the highly infectious respiratory illness were diagnosed. Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service Public Health Unit issued a public health alert over two cases of measles in a family

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has refused to say if he was making a political statement against the Indigenous Voice when he and most of his Coalition colleagues were absent when it was introduced to parliament on Thursday. The constitutional amendment bill introduced on Thursday morning was the “first step” towards

The country’s top doctor has warned more COVID waves are on the way, as the government ramps up efforts to increase booster rates before winter. The latest figures have shown one million people have received 2023 booster doses, with seven in 10 of those being over the age of 60.

More than 10 lenders have cut fixed interest rates in the past 10 days, with ING moving to slash its offerings ahead of the Reserve Bank’s next interest rate decision. The bank has trimmed its fixed rates for new customers by as much as 0.25 per cent, lowering its best fixed rate

Watch: Union bosses are pushing for millions of low-paid Australian workers to receive a pay rise of 7 per cent to keep up with inflation as the fair work commission conducts its annual wage review. The estranged wife of Victorian union identity John Setka has been charged with allegedly plotting

Controversial union boss John Setka and his estranged wife have fronted court after Emma Walters was charged over an alleged plot to kill him. The pair arrived separately at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday on a matter unrelated to the charges against Ms Walters. On Wednesday night she was charged

A new carbon pollution cap on big emitters will apply from July 1 after laws cleared the Senate. Changes to the safeguard mechanism, which was initially brought in by the coalition government, will force the nation’s 215 biggest emitters to reduce their emissions by 4.9 per cent each year. This

The King has surprised well-wishers on his first overseas tour as monarch – a whistle-stop visit to Germany. He and his wife, Queen Camilla, were greeted with military honours at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate early on Wednesday (local time). Then came a glittering state banquet in the German capital, hosted by

A student pilot who crashed a helicopter into Melbourne homes did not immediately recognise the engine had lost power. The pilot was on his second solo flight in a Hughes 269C three-seat light helicopter, returning to Moorabbin Airport when he noticed it had become unstable and started what’s called a

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has called for Liberal unity ahead of Saturday’s Aston by-election, following bitter divisions within the party’s Victorian branch. Voters in the Melbourne seat head back to the polls, less than a year after the last federal election, following the resignation of Liberal MP Alan Tudge. Mr Dutton told

Companies that underpay female employees will no longer be able to hide. The government passed its workplace gender equality bill through the Senate on Thursday, requiring companies with 100 or more employees to publish the incomes of their workers from early next year. Organisations are being told to prepare to

The use of body-worn cameras by specialist police is being reviewed after an Aboriginal man was shot dead in far north Queensland. Aubrey Donahue died after being shot four times by police who allege he advanced on officers while armed with a knife in Mareeba, west of Carins, on Saturday.

Hundreds of people have gathered at a candlelight vigil in Nashville, Tennessee to mourn the three children and three adults who were killed in a shooting at a Christian school this week. The ceremony on Wednesday for the victims of the shooting at The Covenant School was largely sombre and

Medibank shareholders have taken legal action against the private health insurer for not disclosing alleged cyber security “deficiencies”. The class action was filed in the Supreme Court of Victoria and served on Medibank on Wednesday. Medibank reported the massive data breach in October last year, after Russian hackers stole the

The organisers of a Barack Obama event in Melbourne say security concerns were behind the move to remove a senior Aboriginal elder from the program. Senior Wurundjeri elder Aunty Joy Murphy was meant to perform the welcome to country at An Evening with President Obama at Melbourne’s John Cain Arena

Privately-owned electric scooters are no longer banned and younger riders can hit the road as part of a six month extension to the Victorian e-scooter trial. Currently, the only e-scooters legally allowed to hit the road are those available to hire through companies but that’s set to change from Wednesday.

Russian forces have had some success in the frontline city of Bakhmut, Ukrainian military officials say, and the United Nations nuclear watchdog chief is putting aside plans for a security zone around a major power plant in Ukraine. The mining city of Bakhmut and surrounding towns in the eastern industrial

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has been given a standing ovation after presenting the words to alter the Australian constitution to enshrine an Indigenous voice to federal Parliament. Mr Dreyfus introduced the bill on Thursday, in the first formal step towards this year’s referendum – the first for Australians in more than

A proposal to alter the words of the Australian constitution to enshrine an Indigenous voice will be presented to federal parliament. Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus will introduce the bill on Thursday, setting the wheels in motion for a referendum later this year. Parliament finalised the rules around the distribution of referendum information

The Reserve Bank could be facing a legislative shake up following its first review in decades, with Treasurer Jim Chalmers vowing to build up its “respect and reputation”. The review of the central bank will be handed to Dr Chalmers on Friday, who intends to publicly release the findings

Pope Francis is suffering from a respiratory infection and will stay in the hospital for treatment for several days, the Vatican says. The head of the Catholic Church had been taken to Rome’s Gemelli University Hospital on Wednesday afternoon. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the 86-year-old pontiff had complained of

Asked to find an extra $20 billion per year to fund government priorities like building nuclear submarines and responding to climate change, Australia’s top economists overwhelmingly back land tax, increased resource taxes, an attack on negative gearing and extending the scope of the goods and services tax. The 59 leading

Australian unions are pushing for a “survival increase” in the minimum wage as inflation and the cost of living impact the lowest-paid workers. The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) wants a seven per cent boost to incomes which it says is “essential”. This would equate to raising the national

A respected Indigenous elder is “shocked and distressed” after she was dumped from former US President Barack Obama’s sold-out event in Melbourne. Aunty Joy Murphy Wandin AO, a Wurundjeri elder, says she was told she was being “too difficult” and stopped from performing the Welcome to Country on Wednesday night.

Australian unions are pushing for a “survival increase” in the minimum wage as inflation and the cost of living crush the lowest-paid workers. The Australian Council of Trade Unions wants a 7 per cent boost to incomes which it says is “essential”. This would equate to raising the national minimum

Australian scientists have made dire projections about what Antarctica’s melting ice will do to global ocean health without rapid emissions cuts this decade. Most people know fossil fuel use is warming the planet, melting polar ice caps and pushing up sea levels. But ice loss is also disrupting water circulation in

Occasionally you come across something that just stops you in your tracks. For me, this week, it was a string of words in an editorial in the Australian Financial Review, the nation’s premier financial newspaper, of which I was once the editor: “… the green-left political fringe’s anti-fossil fuel ideological

The estranged wife of controversial union boss John Setka has been charged with plotting to kill him. Former lawyer Emma Walters was interviewed by police on Wednesday and charged with incitement to commit conspiracy to murder the Victorian secretary of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union. Victoria Police said in

Myanmar’s military government has dissolved the ousted ruling party of former leader Aung San Suu Kyi and 39 other parties, state media has announced, over their failure to register for an election set to prolong the army’s grip on power. The move sparked condemnation from Australia, which said it was

The upcoming Aston by-election is a topsy-turvy affair – but could it upend the leadership of Peter Dutton and a century of political history? Or could it prove he is immune to normal political consequences? Officially the ALP has been campaigning hard in the outer Melbourne seat in every expectation

Less than a year after Nine’s reality TV home renovation show The Block wrapped in regional Victoria, the cast and crew are back on the streets making waves in a Melbourne bayside suburb. Five “renovator’s delight” houses in Charming Street, Hampton East – snapped up for $14.3 million as reported

In the 34 years that Tasmanian greengrocer Ben Parsons has been in business, he has never seen potato prices as high as they are now. The price of a 500kg potato bin has almost doubled from $250 a few years ago, but Mr Parsons has only raised his prices for