User Articles

PM’s campaign hits close to home

Before taking his campaign west, Anthony Albanese has opened up about his mother while unveiling upgrades for a women’s health centre. Proving all politics is local, Anthony Albanese started the day in his electorate of Grayndler in Sydney’s inner-west, unveiling funding for clinic rooms at the Leichhardt Women’s Community Health Centre. It’s a location Albanese had visited many decades ago, going there as a young boy with his mother who received care from the centre.

AAP Newswire

Health

Foreign surgeons get second chance

Qualifying to be a surgeon takes years of study and hard work, but that journey is even longer for desperately needed overseas-trained surgeons. Between January 2021 and July 2024, the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons assessed specialist international medical graduates against standards that varied from the requirements of Medical Board of Australia - the national body that licenses medical practitioners to work.

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Russia

21 Apr 2025

Albanese lashes Russia over regional meddling

The prime minister has dismissed as propaganda a Russian slapdown of Australia’s attempts to stymie Moscow’s military influence with Indonesia. A political storm has been brewing during the election campaign after reports Russia asked Indonesia to station military planes in its territory. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese quickly responded to say the government had assurance from Jakarta it wasn’t happening.

AAP Newswire

21 Apr 2025

Tragedy

Five Easter drownings highlight risk for fishermen

The dangers of rock fishing are being highlighted, with three of five drowning deaths over the Easter long weekend of fishermen swept into the sea. That has prompted Royal Life Saving Australia to urge enthusiasts to wear life jackets, check weather warnings and not fish if conditions are dangerous.

AAP Newswire

Election

Coalition courts businesses with more tax incentives

Small businesses will be able to deduct thousands more dollars off their tax bill as part of Peter Dutton’s pitch to employers struggling to meet rising costs. The opposition leader said the Labor government had been a “disaster” for businesses as he announced two new tax incentives at the Royal Easter Show on Saturday.

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Election

Palmer seeks to liven up campaign

Clive Palmer and his Trumpet of Patriots party will officially launch their campaign with a focus on cost-of-living and bringing “common sense” policy to Canberra. Palmer has spent millions of dollars on federal election campaigns, with the May 3 poll no different as he seeks to gain more than one seat. Since he vowed at a recent National Press Club address to bombard Australians with advertising, billboards and video advertisements have come thick and fast across the Australian physical and digital landscape.

AAP Newswire

Election

18 Apr 2025

Dutton walks talk on diversity

The election campaign has been no walk in the park for the opposition leader. And Peter Dutton was met with mixed responses in his third street walk since the starter’s gun fired on the May 3 election. Touring the annual Sikh Games at Bass Hill in western Sydney on Good Friday, the coalition leader was welcomed by community figures.

AAP Newswire

18 Apr 2025

Cost of living

Small uptick signals ‘era of high inflation is over’

Headline inflation has risen for the first time in three years in New Zealand, but remains in the Reserve Bank’s target band. Stats NZ on Thursday revealed prices used to measure the consumers price index (CPI) grew by 2.5 per cent in the 12 months to March, up from 2.2 per cent growth across 2024.

AAP Newswire

Health

Damning probe finds safety risks at under-fire hospital

A controversial hospital where two children have recently died is failing to meet healthcare standards and is at risk of failure. In a scathing report from the NSW auditor-general, the operators of Sydney’s Northern Beaches Hospital are accused of not taking sufficient actions to stop clinical safety risks. Noting “concerning results” for some hospital-acquired complications, NSW auditor-general Bola Oyetunji said the hospital’s public-private partnership creates a tension between clinical outcomes and profits.

AAP Newswire

Politics

Humility and hostility as Albanese and Dutton face off

Voters will have the final say on which leader prevailed after Peter Dutton and Anthony Albanese spanned well-trodden ground in a debate rematch. The prime minister faced off against the coalition leader at the ABC’s western Sydney studios for the second out of four campaign trail clashes on Wednesday night. Unlike the first debate, where an audience of undecided voters declared a winner, this contest - moderated by the ABC’s national lead David Speers - will only be decided when viewers go to the ballot box on May 3.

AAP Newswire

Election

Parties pledge to fix housing woes

Major parties have traded blows on how they would solve Australia’s housing crisis, but uncertainty remains on how critical targets would be reached. Housing Minister Clare O’Neil and opposition spokesman Michael Sukkar debated the issue at the National Press Club, both pledging to make it easier for first-home buyers to enter the market. O’Neil said housing remained one of the nation’s most pressing issues, with many young people feeling disenfranchised.

AAP Newswire

Election

12 Apr 2025

Leaders look west for key seats

Politicians are ensuring Western Australia is in the election campaign spotlight as they try to woo voters with ferry rides and celebrity appearances. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese brought out the big guns with partner Jodie Haydon joining the campaign trail in Perth on Saturday. The pair hoped for a day of smooth sailing after hopping aboard a ferry called Tricia, named after the beloved elephant that died aged 65 at Perth Zoo several years ago, for a trip along the Swan River to the Labor-held seat of Perth.

AAP Newswire

12 Apr 2025

Court

Probe into science nerd’s plutonium import ‘ridiculous’

A border force investigation into the import of uranium and plutonium by a “science nerd” to his parents’ apartment was a ridiculous over-reaction, his lawyer says. Emmanuel Lidden, 24, admitted breaching nuclear non-proliferation laws by ordering various radioactive samples through the internet. His motive: collecting all elements of the periodic table, just like billionaire Bill Gates.

AAP Newswire

Poll

Dutton on defensive as coalition slips

Peter Dutton has vigorously defended the opposition’s ailing election campaign as polling suggests the coalition could snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. And it’s not the only defence Dutton has been forced into, as a serious challenge brews in his own electorate. Dutton was courting voters at an event hosted by The West Australian on Friday when the paper’s editor-in-chief Chris Dore delivered an unconventional introduction that contrasted a “match-fit, super confidentrime minister against a “punch-drunk” opposition leader.

AAP Newswire

Accident

Chopper crash was ‘accident waiting to happen’

A catastrophic mid-air crash was an accident waiting to happen when two helicopters flew towards a known collision risk point where flight paths intersected, an aviation expert says. But the operator says the crash occurred in a compliant organisation that exceeded regulatory expectations. Two Sea World helicopters collided above the Gold Coast Broadwater in January 2023, during the peak of the busy summer holiday season.

AAP Newswire

Energy

Gas opponents fire up ahead of energy debate

The coalition’s energy plan would result in thousands fewer jobs and tens of billions in foregone private investment, modelling shows as the major parties prepare to square off over their energy proposals. Before the first election debate between Energy Minister Chris Bowen and opposition spokesman Ted O’Brien, the Electrical Trades Union released analysis showing nearly 12,000 jobs building transmission lines would be lost if the coalition scrapped the Rewiring the Nation plan.

AAP Newswire

Trade

Australia looks at trade options

Australia is looking to bolster free trade with the rest of the world in the wake of Donald Trump’s tariffs, as the government moves to reassure investors the nation is well-placed to avoid a recession. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese talked up his government’s diplomatic victories as he positioned Labor as best-equipped to increase trade links with China, India and south-east Asian neighbours. ”There are enormous opportunities for Australia to take advantage of where we are in the world,“ he told reporters on Wednesday.

AAP Newswire

Pacific

Pacific growth tipped to slow down

The Asian Development Bank has issued stilted growth projections through the Pacific for the next two years. On Wednesday, the regional bank and major aid funder issued its flagship annual forecasts, with a headline figure of 3.9 per cent growth for the region in 2025. That’s down from the 4.2 per cent growth experienced in 2024, and comes before a further fall expected in 2026 of 3.6 per cent.

AAP Newswire

Weather

Plumes of flying sand to save famous beaches

The Gold Coast’s beaches are undergoing an unusual makeover with sand flying through the air to save the coastline. The dredging is helping to revitalise beaches that suffered severe erosion in the wake of ex-tropical cyclone Alfred’s monster waves of up to 12 metres, devastating the coastline. More than 80 per cent of the glitter strip’s beaches had “gone into the ocean” following the devastation caused by the cyclone, Mayor Tom Tate said. Dredging is under way, with a barge pumping sand that’s been pulled offshore back towards the beach in an arc through the air.

AAP Newswire

Energy

Vow insulation scheme won’t repeat tradie tragedies

The cost of installing ceiling insulation will be slashed in one state with the government insisting it won’t spark a repeat of the deadly “pink batts” disaster. From early 2026, Victorian homeowners can access big discounts on fitting ceiling insulation through the expansion of a long-running energy upgrades program. The discounts are expected to halve installation costs from $3000 to $1500 on average.

AAP Newswire