The Guardian Australia
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,...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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,...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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,...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘How could that happen?’: footage of Sea World helicopters in deadly mid-air collision shown at inquest
A woman has given a harrowing account of how she was trapped under “hot machinery” after the Sea World helicopter she was travelling in collided with another over the Gold Coast, killing four people. Giving evidence on Monday at the start of the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Prosecutor will not charge Kyle and Jackie O and Mamamia with contempt over Erin Patterson comments
The Victorian Office of Public Prosecutions will not charge Kyle and Jackie O or Mamamia with contempt for potentially prejudicial comments made during the trial of mushroom triple- murderer Erin Patterson . In July, Patterson was found guilty of...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
WA windsurfer escapes with bitten board after great white shark encounter at popular surf spot
A windsurfer has come face to face with a suspected great white shark at a popular surf spot in Western Australia, and walked away with a bitten board but otherwise unscathed. Andy McDonald was riding his hydrofoil board - a type of board with a wing...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
NSW MP rebuffed by security after asking to relocate planned neo-Nazi protest away from parliament
The New South Wales speaker says he asked parliamentary security to relocate Saturday’s neo- Nazi rally but was told his request to move it from the front of the building was not possible. Greg Piper, the house speaker in NSW’s Legislative Assembly,...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
John, 75, wanted a taxi outside Sydney airport to take him 1.5km to his hotel. Drivers refused
John Heron’s four-hour fl ight from Perth landed in Sydney on Tuesday, just before 10.30pm. The 75-year-old had booked a nearby hotel, about 1.5km away, to spend the night after the late arrival. Heron grabbed his bag, left the airport and wandered...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Sam Groth’s ambition to be premier meant articles on relationship with wife ‘not idle gossip’, News Corp claims
News Corp stories alleging Sam Groth began dating his wife, Brittany, while she was underage were far from “idle gossip” given the claims were being “weaponised” by rivals of the Victorian Liberal MP, who aspires to become premier, the publisher has...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Homes could be $100k cheaper in 10 years with one change to zoning rules, Australian report finds
Homes could be $100,000 cheaper over a decade if Australia’s capital cities dramatically overhaul their zoning rules to allow three-storey townhouses and apartments to be built on all residential land, according to a new report from the Grattan...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Reddit targeted by Australia’s under-16s social media ban as list of platforms grows
Reddit and video streaming platform Kick will join the likes of Facebook, Snapchat and TikTok in being required by the Australian government to ban users under the age of 16, the federal communications minister has revealed. On Wednesday night, Anika...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Australians to get at least three hours a day of free solar power - even if they don’t have solar panels
Australian households in three states will be promised access to at least three hours a day of free solar power, regardless of whether they have rooftop panels, the federal government has announced. The “solar sharer” off ffer will be available to...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
As Barack Obama stumps for other Democrats, the party gets to see what it lost
“It’s not as if we didn’t see some of this coming,” said Barack Obama, a note of bleak humour in his voice. “I will admit it’s worse than even I expected, but I did warn y’all!” The crowd at a sports arena in Norfolk, Virginia, half-laughed and...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
New record as Senate question time blows out into chaotic marathon over transparency fight
In chaotic Senate scenes, Labor has set a 125-year record by keeping question time running for more than three hours, after the government lost control of the chamber and threatened to strip Coalition members from parliamentary committees in a fight...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Victorian Labor forced to rely on One Nation and others to pass voluntary assisted dying bill after factional split
The Victorian government will be forced to rely on a motley crew of MPs including One Nation and the Liberals to pass its voluntary assisted dying laws after a group of Labor MPs railed against the legislation. The development comes as the lower house...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Expanded state powers on fossil fuel projects and water ‘betrayal’ of Australians, nature law critics say
State governments could be given expanded powers to make decisions on fossil fuel developments under Labor’s proposed overhaul of environment law, prompting “shock and anger” from community-based conservation organisations that fear nature protection...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Barnaby Joyce’s walkout and endless net zero rehashing? The Nationals are ‘having a normal one’
The Nationals are once again, in the words of Chris Bowen, “having a normal one”. Another Monday, another parliamentary week, another chapter in the seemingly never- ending story of the Coalition putting its fingers in its ears and screaming as they...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Minister to retain final say on controversial projects under Labor’s long-awaited nature laws
The environment minister will still be responsible for approving projects under new federal nature laws, after Labor rebuffed calls for a completely independent watchdog with full decisionmaking powers. The retention of ministerial decision-making...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Sussan Ley’s potential net zero compromise risks tearing the Coalition apart and alienating voters on all sides
Coalition climate and energy policies are always the product of compromise, whereby the aspirations of the remaining climate-conscious MPs are watered down or sacrificed to preserve the internal peace. Scott Morrison committed to net zero by 2050, but...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Two dead at Melbourne beach as wild wind batters state, while parts of Sydney hit by record-breaking heat
Two men have died after being pulled from the water at a Victorian beach amid wild weather in the state. On Wednesday evening, Victoria police confirmed two men were found unresponsive in the water at Frankston beach, on the Mornington Peninsula, just...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
October heat records broken across Australia as Sydney braces for temperatures way above the norm
October heat records have been broken in several states this week as authorities in New South Wales prepare for temperatures above the norm to hit Sydney and the east coast of Australia. The Queensland outback town of Birdsville broke a new record on...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Australia says Chinese fighter jet released flares near RAAF aircraft in ‘dangerous’ incident
The acting prime minister, Richard Marles, has condemned the “unsafe and unprofessional” behaviour of the Chinese military, saying a fi ghter jet released fl ares close to an Australian surveillance plane over the South China Sea . Australia’s defence...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Millions across all 50 US states march in No Kings protests against Trump
Americans across all 50 states marched in protests against the Trump administration on Saturday, aligning behind a message that the country is sliding into authoritarianism and there should be no kings in the US. Millions of people turned out for the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
News Corp told by Liberal MP that allegations about Sam Groth and wife were ‘political hit job’, couple’s lawyers say
A News Corp reporter failed to include a Victorian Liberal MP’s statement that allegations about the party’s deputy leader Sam Groth’s relationship with his wife were “nothing more than a political hit job” in a story, lawyers for the couple say. The...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘Big John’ Fisher’s Australian takeaway: get the right visa next time
British social media personality “Big John” Fisher has cut short a tour and appearances in Australia after saying he was detained by immigration offi fficers for arriving on the wrong visa. Fisher, who is famous for his love of Chinese takeaway and...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Cold calling: Australian Antarctic Program seeks hundreds of workers ready for polar-powered adventure
Few people witness the otherworldly seasonal transformation of Antarctica, but a small group of Australians experience it first-hand. From the complete darkness of polar winter to the peachy glow of a round-the- clock summer sun, they witness the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Emissions linked to Woodside’s Scarborough gas project could lead to at least 480 deaths, research suggests
Greenhouse emissions linked to a gas fi eld being developed by Australian fossil fuel company Woodside could lead to the death of at least 480 people and expose more than half a million to unprecedented heat, new research suggests. Scientists from six...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Fossicking for a fortune: the price of gold is sky-high, and prospectors in Victoria hope to cash in
It’s a Friday morning at the Gold Centre in Maryborough, and the shop feels more like a social club than a place of commerce. A group who have signed up for a prospecting tour greet each other on the verandah, staff chat with customers seeking advice...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘Australia is not the USA’: Labor accuses Coalition of importing Trump-style culture war on immigration
Labor has accused the Coalition of importing Trump-style culture wars to damage Australia’s international migration program, defending tight controls on overseas arrivals and blaming conservative MPs including Andrew Hastie for “dog...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
News Corp Australia chair says social media platforms are ‘true monsters’ and ‘torment our children’
Social media is to blame for social cohesion issues across the globe, News Corp Australia’s executive chair, Michael Miller, has said, as he calls for media to present a united front against the platforms and AI companies seeking content for...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Fiery Senate exchange reveals investigation into coal firm allegedly clearing endangered greater glider habitat
Australian government offi fficials are investigating whether a coal mining company is putting threatened greater gliders and koalas at risk by illegally clearing bushland in central Queensland without approval under federal law . revelation came in a...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Erin Patterson: prosecutors to appeal ‘manifestly inadequate’ sentence for triple murderer
The Victorian director of public prosecutions will appeal against the sentence handed down to triple murderer Erin Patterson, arguing it is manifestly inadequate. On Monday afternoon - the deadline for an appeal - the DPP confirmed in a statement that...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Sussan Ley faces emboldened conservative backbench after Hastie’s resignation, Liberal MPs warn
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley faces an increasingly emboldened conservative backbench bloc, Liberal MPs have warned, amid frustration and confusion over the timing of Andrew Hastie’s resignation over immigration policy. Hastie resigned from the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
PNG to provide troops to Australia under first new alliance since Anzus
Australia will elevate its relations with Papua New Guinea to the same level as the US and New Zealand, with a major defence treaty set to be signed as soon as next week. Delayed last month due to political complications within the PNG government, the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Bowen says cutting emissions by more than 70% ‘not achievable’ as 2035 target criticised from all sides
The Albanese government insists its new 2035 emissions reduction target of 62% to 70% represents the “maximum level of ambition”, as climate campaigners warn it falls short of what Australia should be doing to combat global heating. The climate change...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Labor will announce its 2035 emissions target this week. Here’s how it could shape Australia’s next decade
The scale of the Australian government’s climate action ambition for the next decade is expected to be set on Thursday with the anticipated release of its 2035 emissions reduction target. Cutting emissions The target was initially promised by...
Read Full Story (Page 6)
JD Vance backs mass ‘doxing’ campaign to find and harass Charlie Kirk critics
A mass “doxing” effort to track down, intimidate and harass people perceived not to have sufficiently mourned the killing of the rightwing activist Charlie Kirk was endorsed on Monday by Vance . The US vice-president guest- hosted Kirk’s podcast on...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Complaint letter emerges after Melbourne hospital’s decision to cancel ‘children and war’ panel angers staff
Doctors have expressed outrage after Melbourne’s Royal Children’s hospital (RCH) suddenly cancelled a planned panel discussion on the eff ffects of war on children’s health, just days after its chief executive received a letter alleging the event would...
Read Full Story (Page 1)