Australian News

Yeah sure, lets allow companies to make highly attractive poison, advertise it using whatever tricks they can think up short of pornography, allow supermarkets to place this shit wherever they think people are most vulnerable and at eye level, allow sales and promotions promoting consumption.

Who could forsee that people would overindulge? What could be the solution? SIN TAXES

farque awffff. Can you imagine if we let companies poor waste into a river and taxed you if you swam in it? Fucking deranged proposal. This stupid political system that can't see a government as anything except a way of distributing financial penalties has absolutely cooked us.

In short:

Almost half of those who voted in the federal election in a small northern NSW town had their votes declared invalid.

Residents who voted at the Missabotti voting centre say AEC staff provided them incorrect how-to-vote information.

What's next?

The AEC is investigating the allegations of voting misinformation.

Man restrained by police after placing items in clothing and stopped breathing while still in supermarket

cross-posted from: https://quokk.au/post/6390494

The Victorian government will ban the sale of machetes from Wednesday after a gang brawl at a shopping centre.

Two males were arrested and another was taken to hospital in a serious but stable condition after the incident at Northlands shopping centre.

archive.org

In total, just five of the 96 promised upgrades had been completed and 11 were in construction, almost three years after their announcement. The rest remained in the design or planning stage, the Victorian School Building Authority (VSBA) website showed.

Flooding at unprecedented levels has inundated towns and left residents stranded in the Mid North Coast and Hunter region of New South Wales, with parts of Taree, Wingham and Glenthorne of most concern.

NSW State Emergency Services personnel have rescued hundreds of people from floodwaters and rooftops, while thousands have lost power or been isolated by cut-off roads.

Authorities have issued 13 emergency-level alerts, with the Manning River peaking at 6.4 metres at Taree, surpassing the 1929 record flood level.

Follow our live blog below for the latest updates on the unfolding weather situation.

NSW is axing “no grounds” evictions for its almost 2 million renters, they cannot refuse pets without a valid reason, and they must provide a fee-free rent payment option.

Tenants will also be able to apply for a pet, with owners only able to refuse the request for specific reasons, such as the owner living at the property.

Approval will be automatic if owners do not respond to pet applications within 21 days.

Owners and agents must also provide certain fee-free rent payment methods such as direct bank transfers to renters.

See also:

• https://www.nsw.gov.au/departments-and-agencies/fair-trading/changes-to-rental-laws#toc-summary-of-the-changes
• https://www.tenants.org.au/resource/law-change

Key paragraphs:

The Australian government is refusing freedom of information requests at a rate not seen for a decade, data shows, prompting concerns for transparency and accountability.

Data held by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, the watchdog overseeing the FoI system, revealed the proportion of FoI requests being completely refused has shot up to 27% in the December 2024 quarter.

That is the highest level since at least 2014-15, historical records show.

Arguably related: https://aussie.zone/post/20646025

The judge said she was concerned that the police defence suggested officers had formed a reasonable suspicion to strip-search Meredith based on “things like her demeanour, what was said outside the tent, and [the officers] recalling it was said outside the tent and not inside”.

“There is absolutely no evidence, unless you can take me to it and I’ve missed something,” Yehia said to Sexton.

“All I have is the officers’ statements that say either they don’t remember the search, or both that they don’t remember the search nor remember the lead plaintiff. In those circumstances, I’m just not sure how this could ever have proceeded in the way that it did with the initial pleadings.”

In short:

A class action against police stripsearching people at music festivals is underway in NSW.

The young woman leading the class action had her experience described by a lawyer as "akin to a sexual assault".

The lawyer also claimed that the state failed to adequately train officers on the strict rules surrounding strip searches.

Virginia Giuffre, formerly known as Virginia Roberts, has died at her farm in Western Australia, aged 41.

The prominent accuser of Jeffrey Epstein and Prince Andrew died by suicide.

If you or anyone you know needs help:

• Lifeline on 131 114
• 1800 Respect National Helpline on 1800 737 732
• 13 YARN on 13 92 76
• Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800
• Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636
• Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467
• MensLine Australia on 1300 789 978
• Headspace on 1800 650 890
• ReachOut
• Emergency services on triple-0 if you need immediate care

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/21085337

archived (Wayback Machine)

In short:

A fisherman has drowned after being swept off rocks in Sydney's south, while a teenager who was with the man has been rescued.

Five people have now died in coastal drownings in NSW over the Easter long weekend.

What's next?

A search is ongoing for two men missing since Friday, one in NSW and the other in Victoria.

archived (Wayback Machine)