The Guardian Australia
SA Liberals dump candidate who said homosexuality ‘opens up demonic realms’ after initially standing by him
A Liberal candidate in South Australia’s upcoming state election has been dumped after his “shocking and extreme” views on abortion, same-sex marriage, gender transitioning and feminism were aired by his Labor rival. The leader of the SA Liberals,...
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Football squad member changes mind on asylum as Iran accuses Australia of holding players ‘hostage’
One of the Iranian football squad members who had sought asylum has changed her mind, home affairs minister Tony Burke has confirmed. The turnaround comes as Iran’s foreign affairs ministry accused the Australian government of holding the players...
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Iran women’s football team leave on bus after landing in Sydney as emotional supporters watch on
The Iranian women’s football team have been whisked away on a bus at Sydney airport after dozens of supporters gathered at an airport gate to see them amid continued speculation about when or if they would be heading back to their home country. The...
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Australia would be signed up to Iran war ‘by deception and stealth’ if military support sent, Shoebridge says
The Greens say sending military support to Gulf countries would only serve Donald Trump’s interests in the growing Iran war, as international law experts warn assistance would mean Australia was legally part of the conflict. Cabinet’s national...
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Matildas score late in see-sawing draw with South Korea as top spot slips away at Women’s Asian Cup
A stoppage-time equaliser to Alanna Kennedy has given Australia a messy 3-3 draw against South Korea that means the Matildas have finished second in their Asian Cup group. An early strike by Mun Eun-ju and two quick second-half goals gave Korea a 3-2...
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Penny Wong refuses to say if any Australian crew onboard US submarine that sank Iranian warship
The Australian government has refused to disclose whether Australian sailors or officers were onboard the US attack submarine which torpedoed and sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean, killing at least 87 people. More than 50 Australian sailors...
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Plibersek accuses Mafs of platforming ‘coercive control’ after contestant wanted a woman ‘obedient’ like a dog
The social services minister, Tanya Plibersek, has accused Australia’s biggest media company, Nine Entertainment, of “normalising” coercive control by airing an exchange in which a Married at First Sight contestant says he wants a woman to be obedient...
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Jacinda Ardern living and working in Australia after move from US
The former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern is living in Australia with her family, a spokesperson has confirmed. “The family has been travelling for a few years now,” her office told the Guardian. “For the moment they’re basing themselves...
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Trump claims host of successes and attacks old foes in longest State of the Union
proclaimed his first year in office a success at the State of the Union address on Tuesday evening, even as his presidency is dogged by low public approval ratings before November’s midterm elections in which voters could hand control of Congress back...
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Trump to deliver State of the Union address in deeply polarized country
The last time Donald Trump delivered a State of the Union address, it produced the memorable optics of Nancy Pelosi ripping up his speech after he finished talking. Pelosi’s theatrical gesture at the end of the February 2020 address (his 2025 speech...
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High-speed rail link between Sydney and Newcastle could be ‘shovel-ready’ in two years, Albanese government says
Long-mooted plans for highspeed rail could be “shovelready” within two years, according to the federal government, which will on Tuesday announce another $230m for further planning work for fast trains between Sydney and Newcastle, as part of the first...
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How an Australian farmer is planning to get US consumers hooked on camel milk
Caroline’s sultry and soulful eyes are hooded and heavy-lashed. “She’s straight out of central,” Paul Martin whispers, gazing at his star performer with admiration. Martin is not speaking of central casting - the camel farmer is referring to the...
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KPMG asks Sydney writers’ festival to delete its name from website after Randa Abdel-Fattah confirmed as speaker
Global accounting giant KPMG has distanced itself from the Sydney writers’ festival, requesting its name be removed from the event’s website where it was listed as a corporate partner. The move follows the festival scheduling Palestinian Australian...
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Lakemba mosque facing most alarming situation since Cronulla riots as Ramadan begins, Muslim leader says
One of Australia’s largest mosques is facing what it says is the most “alarming situation” since the Cronulla race riots, with security bolstered for Ramadan celebrations. New South Wales police are investigating after Sydney’s Lakemba mosque on...
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Taunts, harassment and assaults: landmark report finds racism at Australian universities is ‘systemic’
Racism is “systemic” at Australia’s universities, according to a landmark report found students have mocked their Palestinian peers with shouts of “terrorism”, some students have been followed by campus security and First Nations students have been...
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Angus Taylor moves to promote conservatives and sideline Sussan Ley allies as Liberal party veers right
Sussan Ley’s closest supporters are poised to be demoted as the new Liberal leader, Angus Taylor, prepares to install conservatives to deliver his rightwing agenda. Liberal MPs expect Alex Hawke, Anne Ruston, Andrew Wallace and Paul Scarr will be...
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‘What’s more important, the electricity or food?’: extreme heat is driving up power bills in central Australia
Since the start of summer, Vanessa Napaltjari Davis and her grandchildren have sweltered in their two-bedroom home. Temperatures in the southern half of the Northern Territory have been well above average and the electricity running their single...
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Three Australian millionaires say the nation’s superrich should face higher taxes
Dick Smith, Graham Marr and Richard Barnes were the only three Australians among the nearly 400 millionaires and billionaires who signed an open letter last month calling on all governments to increase taxes on the super rich. The open letter, timed...
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‘We need a helicopter to go find them’: 13-year-old’s emergency call to save family stranded off WA coast revealed
“We got lost out there,” 13-year-old Austin Appelbee tells the triplezero operator, after swimming 4km (2.5 miles) in the rough, open ocean and running 2km (1.25 miles) to save his family. The operator asks how long it is since he set off. “[It] was...
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Telstra joint venture to axe more than 200 jobs amid AI rollout
More than 200 Telstra jobs are expected to be cut, as the telco rolls out AI capabilities and sends some jobs to India. Telstra and the technology consultancy Accenture announced a $700m joint venture (JV) in 2025 to drive efficiency, modernisation...
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Police use pepper spray at Sydney rally against Isaac Herzog visit, with MP alleging officers threw punches
New South Wales police have pepper sprayed protesters at a Sydney rally opposing Israeli president Isaac Herzog’s visit, with a state Labor MP claiming their actions were “totally overthe-top” and a Greens MP alleging she was assaulted. The brutal and...
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‘Take them away, crush them’: Australia faces an ebike surge that some say poses a health emergency
After the Sydney Harbour Bridge was swarmed by 40 or so ebikes and e-motorcycles on Wednesday, the Australian government said the country faced a “real emergency”. “[Illegal ebikes] are a total menace on the road,” the health minister, Mark Butler,...
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WA work safety watchdog makes ‘initial enquiries’ after family who hired kayak and paddleboards washed out to sea
WorkSafe WA is making ‘initial enquiries’ into the hotel that hired out a kayak and inflatable paddleboards to a family who was washed out to sea and later rescued. The Appelbee family was on holiday in Quindalup, 200km (125 miles) south of Perth,...
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Clive Palmer suggests Steven Bannon hoped to ‘increase influence’ by claiming credit for 2019 election ads
Clive Palmer has denied Steve Bannon helped direct his advertising blitz in the 2019 federal election, suggesting texts published in the Jeffrey Epstein files about the strategy were an attempt by the former Trump strategist to “increase his own...
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RBA interest rates decision: Reserve Bank increases cash rate to 3.85% in blow to mortgage holders
The Reserve Bank has hiked rates for the first time in more than two years, and signalled there could be more to come, with mortgage holders to bear the brunt of dealing with a sharp and unexpected jump in inflation. The RBA monetary policy board...
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Former Liberal turned Sky News commentator Cory Bernardi to run for One Nation in South Australian election
Former Liberal senator Cory Bernardi is the latest conservative politician to join One Nation as Pauline Hanson attempts to translate surging support in the polls into seats in parliament. Hanson said Bernardi would lead One Nation’s ticket for the...
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Police ‘confident’ Lake Cargelligo triple murder suspect Julian Ingram is still alive and may be receiving help
Police are “confident” triple murder suspect Julian Ingram is still alive and believe he has been receiving help from people he knows in the area, a week after three people were shot dead in a small New South Wales town. The NSW police assistant...
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‘Not radical, it’s fair’: Australian households would receive compensation in proposed ‘polluter pays levy’ scheme
The Albanese government could make deep emissions cuts and restructure an ailing federal budget by taxing polluting companies more than $35bn a year for the damage they cause to the planet, according to a report backed by senior economists and...
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Ouyen may have hit the highest recorded temperature in Victoria’s history - and some fear it could get even hotter
In the slanting, late-afternoon summer sun, the fields around the small Australian town of Ouyen - almost 450km north-west of Melbourne - turn the colour of honey. The edges shimmer with silver, that old cruel trick of feigning water where it hasn’t...
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Invasion Day: police investigate ‘device’ thrown into Perth crowd as huge marches held across Australia
Police in Western Australia are investigating a “device” thrown into the crowd at the city’s Invasion Day rally, sparking a security scare that ended the protest. Speaking to the media on Monday afternoon, the WA police commissioner, Col Blanch, said...
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Alex Honnold free solos Taipei 101 skyscraper in live Netflix climb
The US rock climber Alex Honnold climbed one of Asia’s tallest skyscrapers without ropes or a harness on Sunday, fulfilling an ambition that began more than a decade ago and which he hoped would inspire people to pursue their own challenges because...
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Three people dead and gunman on the run after shooting in NSW town
Three people have been fatally shot and a gunman is on the run after a shooting in a country town in central western New South Wales. NSW police said on Thursday that a police operation was under way at Lake Cargelligo, 240km south-west of Dubbo,...
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Teenage girl wearing jersey with Palestinian flag refused entry to Sydney A-League game
A teenager wearing a football jersey containing the Palestinian flag was refused entry to an ALeague match at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium, with a video showing security asking her to remove it if she wanted to go inside. The 15-year-old girl was wearing...
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Australia’s strongest gun reform since the Port Arthur massacre has become law. Here’s what you need to know
Parliament has passed some of the most significant changes to Australia’s guns laws since the 1996 Port Arthur massacre. Spurred by last month’s Bondi beach terror attack, the new laws will toughen background checks and fund a national gun buy-back...
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Japan’s prime minister calls snap election as approval ratings ride high
Japan’s prime minister, Takaichi, has called a snap election as she attempts to capitalise on high approval ratings since becoming the country’s first female prime minister three months ago. Takaichi, a conservative who is embroiled in a deepening...
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‘Disappointed’ Jewish leaders call for compromise on hate speech laws after Labor backs down on bill
Jewish leaders have warned Labor and the Coalition their community remains at risk from the promotion of antisemitic hatred, urging a last-minute compromise to secure tough new hate speech laws ahead of a special sitting of parliament. After Anthony...
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Coalition set to vote against Labor’s hate speech and gun laws in wake of Bondi terror attack
The Coalition is set to vote against Labor’s fast-tracked legislation introduced in the wake of the Bondi terror attack, despite the opposition leader, Sussan Ley, calling for urgent legislative action for weeks. Labor would be forced to rely on...
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Flying foxes die in their thousands in worst massmortality event since Australia’s black summer
Thousands of flying foxes have perished in the heatwave that scorched south-east Australia last week, the largest mass mortality event for flying foxes since black summer. Extreme temperatures resulted in deaths in camps across South Australia,...
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Albanese announces royal commission after Bondi attack as he defends not calling inquiry earlier
The prime minister has confirmed his government will call a federal royal commission after the Bondi terror attack, with Anthony Albanese backflipping on an earlier stance against a wideranging commonwealth inquiry. Albanese announced on Thursday the...
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Bruce Lehrmann makes last-ditch legal effort to appeal defamation loss
Bruce Lehrmann has made a lastditch effort to clear his name of findings that, on the balance of probabilities, he raped Brittany Higgins in Parliament House in 2019. The alleged incident has spawned more than a dozen legal cases. In documents filed...
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Mickey Rourke launches fundraiser to pay $60,000 in rent after threat of eviction
Mickey Rourke has turned to fundraising to pay the US$59,100 (£44,000, A$89,000) he allegedly owes in rent, after being sued by his landlord and facing eviction from his Los Angeles home. The 73-year-old actor, who was nominated for an Academy Award...
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Crowd roars in standing ovation for Bondi hero Ahmed al-Ahmed at sold-out Ashes Test in Sydney
A sold-out SCG crowd roared as Ahmed al-Ahmed, his arm in sling and his hand on his heart, walked onto the pitch just before play began of the final Test of the Ashes series. The Syrianborn father of two helped disarm one of two gunmen during the...
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Australian house prices expected to rise at least 5% in 2026 after jump last year
Australian residential property values are expected to rise by at least 5% over the next 12 months - on top of the 8.6% increase seen in 2025 - exacerbating a housing affordability crunch across the country. Every state and territory capital city...
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Man dead and teenage boy missing after boat capsizes off northern Sydney beach
A man has died, a 14-year-old boy is missing and another man has been rescued after a boat capsized in heavy swell off a beach in northern Sydney on Wednesday. In a statement on Wednesday afternoon, New South Wales police said emergency services were...
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Sydneysiders urged to ‘show defiance’ after Bondi attack by coming out for New Year’s Eve, as police presence ramps up
The New South Wales premier has urged Sydneysiders to come out for New Year’s Eve, saying the heightened police presence was not due to any specific threat but a response to keep people safe. More than 2,500 police will be deployed throughout the...
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Search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 expected to resume on Tuesday
The search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 is expected to resume on 30 December, more than a decade after the plane disappeared with 239 people onboard in one of aviation’s greatest mysteries. A renewed search by Ocean Infinity, a UK and US-based...
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Brigitte Bardot, French screen legend, dies aged 91
Brigitte Bardot, the French actor and singer who became an international sex symbol before turning her back on the film industry and embracing the cause of animal rights activism, has died aged 91. Among those paying tribute on Sunday was the French...
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Albanese serves hot meals with a side of hope for Christmas lunch
In a show of Christmas spirit, leaders from both sides of politics have put aside their differences to serve lunch to their communities. Disadvantaged Australians from all walks of life have gathered for Christmas lunch as political leaders offer food...
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Retribution fears as Australian Muslims see surge in Islamophobic hate since Bondi terror attack
Threats and hate speech against Muslim Australians have surged in the wake of the Bondi beach attack, with one mosque receiving dozens of offensive phone calls and reports of people being targeted in the street. As Australia’s Jewish community deals...
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Travel entitlements for MPs’ families will be wound back on advice of expenses watchdog, Anthony Albanese says
The prime minister has announced travel entitlements for the families of parliamentarians will be wound back, after the government sought advice from the expenses watchdog. Anthony Albanese confirmed he had received advice from the Independent...
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Police allege Bondi shooters had ‘tennis ball bomb’ and made IS-inspired video manifesto, court documents reveal
New details about the police case against the alleged Bondi terrorists have been released, including details of an alleged video manifesto linked to the Islamic State and the undetonated explosives - including a “tennis ball bomb” - found at the...
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Starc breaks England hearts again as Australia retain the Ashes in tense third Test
“England are talking themselves up more, they’re confident coming to Australia with the group of players they’ve got and fair enough, this is the best team they’ve had probably this century.” As Marnus Labuschagne wheeled away in delight after...
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Woodside Energy’s Meg O’Neill, who criticised ‘zealous’ young climate activists, moves to BP
Meg O’Neill, the Woodside Energy CEO who has previously criticised young people for taking an “ideological” stance against fossil fuels, will step down as head of the Australian gas giant after being tapped to lead one of the world’s biggest...
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The quiet bricklayer, his father and a leave of absence: the duo accused of killing 15 people in Bondi
It was late June in 2019, and a 17year-old Naveed Akram was standing outside Bankstown train station in Sydney’s west, earnestly extolling the virtues of prayer. He was working with young men performing street dawah, a form of outreach in which the...
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Couple in dashcam footage who were killed trying to fight off Bondi shooter identified as Boris and Sofia Gurman
Dramatic footage has emerged of two victims who were killed while trying to stop a gunman during the early stages of the Bondi beach terror attack on Sunday. The couple have been identified as Boris Gurman, 69, and Sofia Gurman, 61, after their family...
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‘Jet-like flames’: exploding lithium-ion batteries pose an increasingly lethal danger, inquiry told
Exploding ebike and e-scooter batteries emitting “jet-like flames” and toxic fumes pose an increasingly lethal danger, a probe after a series of fire deaths has heard. An inquiry into the dangers of lithiumion batteries is under way before NSW coroner...
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Bystander tackles and wrestles gun from alleged gunman during Bondi beach mass shooting
A bystander tackled and wrestled a gun from one of the two alleged gunman during the Bondi beach mass shooting in which at least 12 people were killed, footage shows. Video of the scene shows the alleged gunman standing on a footpath between a grassy...
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No guarantee tobacco tax cut would lure Australian smokers from illegal trade and raise more revenue, report says
Slashing the tobacco excise might not be enough to lure smokers back to legal cigarettes, and could even widen the multibillion dollar hole blown in the budget by the booming illicit trade, new research shows. The analysis from the e61 Institute comes...
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Chris Minns’ chief of staff argues court should not be able to compel him to give evidence to parliamentary inquiry
The chief of staff to the New South Wales premier has argued a court should not be able to compel him to give evidence before a parliamentary inquiry because it could politicise the justice system. The court’s power to issue a warrant for someone’s...
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Retired greyhounds to continue to be rehomed overseas despite ‘distressing and sometimes fatal’ outcomes
Retired New South Wales greyhounds will continue to be rehomed overseas despite an independent review of the racing industry finding the practice is “distressing and sometimes fatal”. The state government has also rejected a recommendation to suspend...
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Barnaby Joyce joins One Nation as sitting MP with promise of future Senate ticket
Barnaby Joyce says he is “philosophically aligned” with One Nation after finalising his long-anticipated move to Pauline Hanson’s rightwing party. Joyce completed his defection from the Nationals on Monday, appearing with “fellow traveller” Hanson to...
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Albanese warns of ‘difficult’ bushfire season ahead as cooler conditions bring relief to disaster-ravaged NSW
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has warned of a “difficult” summer bushfire season ahead, as a natural disaster was declared in parts of New South Wales and crews battling more than 70 fires gained the upper hand on Sunday. The most destructive...
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Believe, belong, become, boring, bizarre: Brisbane Olympics motto panned as ‘lazy and weirdly evangelical’
If you typed the words “believe, belong and become” into a Google video search on Thursday morning, the first return may have been a sermon by TJ Mauldin, the lead pastor of the First Baptist church of Tifton, Georgia. Directly below the bearded and...
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ATO’s revamped ‘robotax’ scheme targets $5.3bn in on-hold debts - some that have been invisible for years
The Australian Taxation Office has relaunched a campaign to retrieve billions of dollars of onhold debts from taxpayers after conceding flaws in its initial approach, dubbed “robotax”. Documents released to Guardian Australia show the new program is...
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Bid by Gina Rinehart’s company to build helipad set to be blocked by City of Perth
Gina Rinehart’s company has claimed helicopter pads are a necessity of modern business as it fights to install one at its new headquarters in West Perth. The City of Perth on Tuesday recommended councillors block the request from Hancock Iron Ore to...
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Labor rejects standalone AI legislation with plan that offers to help ‘unlock’ public and private data
The Albanese government has decided against legislation to manage artificial intelligence, with a new national roadmap emphasising Labor’s focus on the technology’s economic benefits and plans to “unlock” vast datasets held by private companies and the...
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At least four killed in shooting at child’s party in northern California, officials say
Four people have died after 14 people were shot at a family gathering in northern California on Saturday night, police said. The victims, who range from “juveniles to adults”, were taken to local hospitals, Heather Brent, a spokesperson for the San...
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Despite claiming he doesn’t want a circus, Barnaby Joyce’s actions show he likes life under the big top
Six weeks after floating the split with supporters - having squeezed maximum media attention and gossip (and a questionable steak dinner) out of his political dalliances - Barnaby Joyce waited until the last day of parliament for the year to confirm...
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Goodbye Chinese Noodle House, hello ... Chinese Noodle Houses? Sydney favourite to become two identically named - and competing - diners
Customers have been swarming Chinese Noodle House in Haymarket, famed for its handpulled noodles and cafeteriastyle outdoor seating, to say farewell ahead of the cult favourite’s closure on 12 December. The landlords, who ran the eatery until 2016,...
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Macquarie Dictionary announces ‘AI slop’ as its word of the year, beating out Ozempic face
AI slop is here, it’s ubiquitous, it’s being used by the US president, Donald Trump , and now, it’s the word of the year. The Macquarie Dictionary dubbed the term the epitome of 2025 linguistics, with a committee of word experts saying the outcome...
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