Tag: australia

Taxpayers WHACKED with $66k legal bill for E-Karen’s failure

The eSafety Commissioner’s failed legal battle against Elon Musk’s social media platform X and Canadian activist Chris Elston — better known as Billboard Chris — will cost Australian taxpayers approximately $66,000.

The Administrative Review Tribunal on Tuesday threw out a takedown order issued by Commissioner Julie Inman Grant in response to a controversial post by Elston criticising the World Health Organisation’s inclusion of radical transgender activist Teddy Cook on a policy panel.

In February 2024, Elston shared a post on X stating: “This woman (yes, she’s female) is part of a panel of 20 ‘experts’ hired by the WHO to draft their policy on caring for ‘trans people’. People who belong in psychiatric wards are writing the guidelines for people who belong in psychiatric wards.”

Inman Grant deemed the post “degrading” and issued a takedown notice to X on March 22, threatening the company with a $782,500 fine if it failed to remove the post. X blocked the content, but subsequently challenged the decision alongside Elston.

On Tuesday, the Tribunal sided with X and Elston, ruling the takedown order invalid. Deputy president Damien O’Donovan stated that there was no evidence Elston intended for Cook to see the post.

“In the absence of any evidence that Mr Elston intended that Mr Cook would receive and read the post, and in light of the broader explanation as to why Mr Elston made the post, I am satisfied that an ordinary reasonable person would not conclude that it is likely that the post was intended to have an effect of causing serious harm to Mr Cook,” the ruling read.

An eSafety spokesperson confirmed the legal challenge had so far cost “approximately $66,000”, and acknowledged the Tribunal’s guidance.

eSafety said it would continue an agenda to “protect Australians from online abuse” while taking the Tribunal’s findings into account.

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British committed ‘genocide’ against Aboriginal Australians – inquiry

British colonisers committed “genocide” against the Aboriginal people in the Australian state of Victoria after arriving in the area in the early 1830s, a commission investigating injustices against the indigenous population has said.

The colonization of Victoria, Australia’s second smallest state, located in the southeast of the country, took place between 1834 and 1851.

During that period, its indigenous population suffered “near-complete physical destruction,” falling from around 60,000 to 15,000, according to a report released on Tuesday by the Yoorrook Justice Commission.

The crimes by the British in Victoria included “mass killings, disease, sexual violence, exclusion, linguicide [the death of languages], cultural erasure, environmental degradation, child removal, absorption and assimilation,” it said.

“This was genocide,” the commission ruled after holding more than two months of public hearings and listening to accounts by over 1,300 Aboriginals.

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WA Health issues urgent warning after reports wrong vaccine jabs given to patients by medical staff

Medical staff in Western Australia have been warned after reports of the wrong immunisations being given to patients.

The West Australian reports a vaccine update was sent to medical offices in the western state on Thursday reminding staff to make sure they are giving patients the right jab for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

“It is essential to check the correct RSV immunisation product is being given prior to administration,” WA Health said.

“Recent reporting to the Australian Immunisation Register and Western Australia Vaccine Safety Surveillance System has indicated that some Respiratory Syncytial Virus immunisation products have been administered incorrectly.”

In the alert, WA Health urged staff to use the correct products according to the Australian Immunisation Handbook

NewsWire has contacted WA Health for further comment.

There are different types of RSV jabs for particular demographics.

Beyfortus (nirsevimab) can be given to children aged up to two-years-old, while Abrysvo is a vaccine registered for women who are 28-36 weeks pregnant and for adults over the age of 60.

Another vaccine, Arexvy, is registered for adults over 60, or adults over 50 with increased risk.

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Australian pilot being held as a political prisoner is facing extradition to the US, where he could receive 60 years in prison

Daniel Duggan is facing extradition from Australia to the US over allegations of training Chinese fighter pilots while working for a South African company.

Former US intelligence officer John Kiriakou and Australian lawyer and defence analyst Dr. Glenn Kolomeitz, believe the case is politically motivated and part of the US government’s efforts to send a message to China amidst a “cold war” between the two nations.

Daniel Duggan, an Australian citizen and father of six, has been detained in a maximum security prison since October 2022, facing extradition to the United States over allegations of training Chinese fighter pilots, which he denies.

On 19 December 2024, Attorney General Mark Dreyfus confirmed Duggan’s extradition to the US.  He will be handed over “to American authorities in the early part of 2025,” The Guardian reported.  He potentially faces a 60-year prison term in the US if convicted.  However, his legal team continues to challenge the decision, citing issues with the extradition treaty and the lack of evidence presented against Duggan.

His family has launched a petition on Change.org, urging the Australian Attorney-General, Mark Dreyfus, to reverse his decision to extradite Duggan, arguing that the case is politically motivated and that Duggan should not be handed over to the US. 

The family has also initiated a legal challenge in the Federal Court to block his extradition, claiming the allegations against him are baseless and that the extradition process has been unfair.  They argue that Duggan has no criminal history and that the charges against him have not been tested in court.

A couple of weeks ago, Sydney Criminal Lawyers reported that a date has been set for Duggan to appeal his extradition.  His appeal will be heard by the Federal Court of Australia on 26 August 2025.

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Australia to deploy 100 soldiers to help Ukraine in its bloody war against Russian aggression

Australia will deploy up to 100 soldiers and a military aircraft to Europe in an effort to support Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia. 

Defence Minister Richard Marles announced the contributions at the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) leaders summit in the Netherlands on Wednesday. 

At the request of NATO and Poland, Australia will deploy a Royal Australian Air Force E-7A Wedgetail aircraft in August along with 100 Australian Defence Force personnel. 

Part of Operation Kudu, the deployment is designed to protect an international gateway for humanitarian and military assistance into Ukraine and will not be direct combat roles. 

The deployment is expected to conclude by November and will compliment Australia’s more than $1.5billion in support to Ukraine since the Russian invasion in February 2022. 

‘Australia is proud of its longstanding operational partnership with NATO,’ Mr Marles said in announcing the commitments on Wednesday. 

‘The deployment of an E-7A Wedgetail aircraft will again showcase our ability to operate from Europe, alongside NATO and partners, in support of Ukraine and international peace and security.’

Leaders of the defensive alliance descended on The Hague on Tuesday for two days of talks on the conflict and Washington’s uncertain commitment to NATO. 

Representatives of the member states, including many European nations, the UK, the US and Canada, are expected to commit five per cent of their national outputs to defence and related spending. 

Australia is not a NATO member but is considered one of its Indo-Pacific partners alongside Japan, the Republic of Korea and New Zealand.

During the summit, Australia also imposed a fresh wave of financial sanctions and travel bans on 37 individuals and financial sanctions on seven entities.   

Mr Marles said the sanctions will target Russia’s defence, energy, transport, insurance, electronic and finance sectors and proponents of disinformation and propaganda. 

Foreign Minister Penny Wong welcomed the sanctions as a sign of Australia’s deep ties with NATO member states.  

‘Our targeted sanctions reflect our close coordination with key NATO partners, including the UK, Canada and the European Union.

‘Australia has now imposed more than 1,500 sanctions in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. We will continue to work with partners to disrupt Russia’s ability to fund its illegal and immoral war.’

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City of Sydney BANS gas appliances for all  new homes: ‘Dirty fossil fuel that has no place in homes’

The City of Sydney council has banned gas appliances for all new homes and businesses built from January 2026. 

Lord Mayor Clover Moore’s council on Monday night unanimously adopted the motion banning gas from all new residential builds from December 31 to wean homes and businesses off the fossil fuel.

The council said the move would save each household up to $626 on their power bills every year. 

The change would see an update to development control rules for the use of electric stoves, ovens, heaters and coolers in all newly built apartments and houses. 

Gas hot water systems will still be permitted under the current regulations. 

‘We remain in a climate crisis, which means we need to pull every lever we have in order to keep reducing our emissions,’ Clover Moore said. 

‘To rely on gas means a continued cost for our hip pocket, a continued cost for our health and a continued cost for our planet. It is a price that we simply cannot afford to pay.’

It joins six other NSW councils which have already banned indoor gas appliances in new builds, while seven other councils are also working towards the same regulations.

The City of Sydney also proposed a ban on gas appliances in other developments including serviced apartments, new offices and hotels. 

Councillors voted on gathering public feedback on a plan which would ‘require’ the use of renewable energy in the developments if a ban on gas is passed. 

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ABC forced to delete story as it’s revealed reporter received $16,000 from a weapons company for travel costs

The ABC is investigating one of its reporters after it was revealed he received $16,000 in travel costs from a weapons company he covered in one of his stories. 

Andrew Greene travelled from Sydney to Germany on business class flights worth about $16,000, and was put up in hotels in Hamburg and Kiel to attend a press event for the German weapons company TKMS. The company paid for his trip.

The senior defence correspondent for the ABC later filed a segment for The World Today about TKMS including quotes from its CEO Oliver Burkhard. After revelations of Greene’s junket came to light, the story was removed from the ABC website.

‘We know what we’re doing,’ Mr Burkhard told Greene in the report.

‘I know our competitors, they never have been exported in the past.’

Greene did not disclose the trip to either his ABC audience or his bosses, according to Media Watch. 

As far as the ABC knew, he was on personal leave and had obtained audio of Mr Burkhard’s press conference by email, rather than travelling to Germany in person.

Media Watch host Linton Besser was highly critical of the veteran reporter, saying that ‘while Andrew Greene might have a long history as a news breaker, he’s now been brought undone by weakness before temptation’.

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Urgent health warning as the terrifying side effects of Ozempic emerge

Dozens of Aussie weight loss drug injection patients have complained of symptoms consistent with drug-induced hepatitis, sparking a warning from experts to get regular GP check-ups. 

Patients on GLP-1 agonists Wegovy and Ozempic reported flu-like symptoms, fatigue, abdominal cramps and vomiting, thought to be related to liver injury. 

The most severe cases were rushed to hospital after experiencing symptoms associated with inflammation of the liver. 

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has received three separate reports of hepatitis or liver injury associated with semaglutide medicine use – marketed as Ozempic and Wegovy. 

Two patients were on Ozempic while the other was using Wegovy. 

Patients on Mounjaro have also expressed concerns online.

‘Any of you on Mounjaro have had to stop taking it due to it affecting your liver? I’m currently in hospital with medication induced hepatitis and they’re positive it’s from the Mounjaro,’ one woman wrote.

Another commented: ‘Wegovy badly affected my liver and I had to stop, fortunately I didn’t end up in hospital’. 

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ATO whistleblower Richard Boyle pleads guilty to four charges

Australian Taxation Office (ATO) whistleblower Richard Boyle has pleaded guilty to four charges, including taping private conversations without consent.

The former debt collection officer became an internal whistleblower in October 2017, when he grew concerned about operations in the tax office.

When he felt his complaints were ignored, he went public on Four Corners about the culture at the ATO, including allegations his area was instructed to use heavy-handed tactics on taxpayers who owed the tax office money.

Boyle was originally facing 66 charges, but over time many were dropped.

In South Australia’s District Court on Tuesday, he pleaded guilty to disclosing protected information, making a record of protected information, using a listening device to record private conversations and recording another person’s tax file number.

Boyle had been trying to invoke whistleblower protections to avoid a criminal trial.

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Drastic new cigarette rules that will change the way Aussies smoke forever

Aussie smokers will see some types of cigarettes banned under tough new rules designed to make smoking as unappealing as possible. 

The new measures, which are set to come into force from July 1, will outlaw certain ingredients, flavours and accessories. 

For example, menthol, rum and clove-favoured cigarettes and those with crush balls in the filter will be banned. 

‘These mask the harshness of tobacco, make it more addictive, easier to smoke and harder to quit,’ a Department of Health spokesman said.

Cigarette manufacturers will also be banned from using words like ‘smooth’ and ‘gold’ because they can create the false impression that some products are less harmful.

The new rules will also force all cigarettes to be consistent in their size and shape, with unique filters banned. 

Each packet will come with health warnings and contain information cards offering support to quit.

It comes after manufacturers were forced to print grim warning messages, such as ‘poison in every puff’ and ‘toxic addiction’, on the filter of each cigarette from April.

Health Minister Mark Butler said Australia was ‘one of the first countries in the world to include this new public health measure’.

He said the aim was to ‘educate but also dissuade smokers from using this deadly product’.

Cigarette prices in Australia are among the highest in the world due chiefly to heavy taxation. A standard 20-pack costs more than $50, depending on the brand, with 70 per cent of the retail price ($35) going to the government in excise tax.

Cigarette excise taxes increase twice a year in line with average wages. On March 1, the tax per cigarette rose by 2.8 per cent to $1.27816, up from $1.24335.

The regular tax hikes and resultant high prices have created a booming black market, with millions of Australians now buying illegal, counterfeit cigarettes sold in convenience stores.

The lucrative black-market trade has seen tobacco stores taken over by criminal gangs, with violent turf wars and arson attacks. 

And despite the tax increases, government revenue from tobacco has plummeted due to fewer people buying the expensive product – dropping 39 per cent in just four years, from a peak of $16 billion in 2019/20 to $9.8 billion in 2023/24.

The ATO now estimates that nearly one in five cigarettes smoked in Australia comes from criminal syndicates that evade taxes and sell at deep discounts.

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