15 h. ago Erin Patterson no longer accused of attempting to kill husband as mushroom murders trial begins

Victorian supreme court judge tells jury that charges relating to Simon Patterson have been droppedElection 2025 live updates: Australia federal election campaignGet our afternoon election email, free app or daily news podcastThe trial of Erin Patterson for allegedly murdering her in-laws by serving them a lunch laced with death cap mushrooms has started in a Victorian court.Patterson, 50, faces three charges of murder and one charge of attempted murder relating to a beef wellington lunch she served at her house in South Gippsland in 2023. Continue reading...

Events

22 h. ago When is the 2025 Australia election date? Everything you need to know about early voting, how to apply for a postal vote, what to do if you are overseas and more

Early voting in the Australian federal election begins on Tuesday 22 April. Find out everything you need to know before Australia goes to the polls on 3 May, 2025 Continue reading...

Politics

46 h. ago Tracy is about to begin chemo and she’s also getting evicted. Welcome to Australia’s housing crisis

The 63-year-old, who may have to live in a camper van, wants to see the major political parties do more for older AustraliansElection 2025 live updates: Australia federal election campaignGet our afternoon election email, free app or daily news podcastIn three weeks Tracy Adams starts chemotherapy for bowel cancer. She will also be evicted from her home.The 63-year-old has been living in her Queensland rental for five years and, despite her landlords knowing she has just been diagnosed with cancer, they have told her to go.Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter Continue reading...

Events

3 d. ago Valerie the dachshund is found safe and well after 529 days on the run on South Australian island

Rescuers on Kangaroo Island say they are ‘overjoyed’ after the dog walked into one of their trapsElection 2025 live updates: Australia federal election campaignGet our afternoon election email, free app or daily news podcastAfter 529 days on the run, Australia’s favourite fugitive has been caught at last.Valerie the miniature dachshund, who went missing on Kangaroo Island way back in 2023, has been rescued by conservationists. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago ‘Disrespectful’ booing of welcome to country at Melbourne Anzac Day dawn service condemned

Small group booed and yelled at Bunurong elder Uncle Mark Brown’s welcome and Victorian governor’s acknowledgement of countryElection 2025 live updates: Australia federal election campaignGet our afternoon election email, free app or daily news podcastVictorian police have interviewed a man for offensive behaviour after attenders at Melbourne’s main Anzac Day dawn service booed and heckled during a welcome to country.A small group of people booed and yelled throughout the welcome delivered by Bunurong elder Uncle Mark Brown at the 5:30 am service at the city’s Shrine of Remembrance.Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago ‘Sick of being ignored’: galvanised by Gaza, Australian Muslims aim to exert new political power at the election

Campaigns that have sprung up to energise Australia’s 650,000 voting-age Muslims say the ramifications will extend well beyond 3 MayElection 2025 live updates: Australia federal election campaignPolls tracker; election guide; full federal election coverageAnywhere but Canberra; interactive electorates guideListen to the latest episode of our new narrative podcast series: GinaGet our afternoon election email, free app or daily news podcastIn elections gone by, Az Fahmi volunteered for Labor’s home affairs minister, Tony Burke, in her electorate of Watson in Sydney’s south-west. Now she wants change.“Enough is enough. We’re sick of being taken for granted. We’re sick of being ignored,” says the campaign volunteer, who works in communications. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago ‘Propaganda’: Albanese mocks Russia’s ‘you have no cards’ warning to Australia

Incendiary letter by Moscow’s envoy says Australians should be more concerned about US bases on their soil than a Russian base in IndonesiaElection 2025 live updates: Australia federal election campaignGet our afternoon election email, free app or daily news podcastRussian warnings to Australia that “you have no cards” to stop Russian military activity in the Indo-Pacific have been mocked by Anthony Albanese, who has dismissed an incendiary letter from an ambassador as authoritarian “propaganda”.The unsubstantiated spectre of a proposed Russian military airbase on Indonesian territory has loomed over the past week of Australia’s federal election campaign, with the opposition accusing the government of obfuscating and dodging questions, and the government responding that the opposition had misrepresented the Indonesian government and actively fanned Russian propaganda.Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter Continue reading...

Events

9 d. ago ‘Sell America’: investors are increasingly avoiding the US – here’s what it means for Australian markets

After decades as a safe haven, Donald Trump’s economic upheaval has some traders looking to put their money elsewhere – and countries looking to decouple their economiesElection 2025 live updates: Australia federal election campaignGet our afternoon election email, free app or daily news podcastAt the same time as Australians are cutting back on plans to visit the US under Donald Trump, a new type of investment strategy designed to avoid America is fast gaining popularity.The “sell America trade”, an expression that barely existed before Trump spooked markets by unveiling his new tariff regime late on 2 April, is now a common expression among traders and appears regularly in investment notes to explain the day’s price movements. Continue reading...

Economics

1 week ago Turnbull says negative gearing ‘examined by every government’ – as it happened

This blog is now closedPeter Dutton insists he ‘believes in climate change’ after refusing to say if impacts of global heating worseningAnywhere but Canberra: Australian voters on what matters to themInteractive guide to electorates in the Australian electionListen to the latest episode of our new narrative podcast series: GinaSee all our Australian election 2025 coverageGet our afternoon election email, free app or daily news podcastBoth parties claim victory in last night’s debateThe political reaction to last night’s debate is coming in thick and fast. No surprises here that the Liberals believe their leader Peter Dutton won with flying colours, while Labor has backed Albanese for the victory.I saw a very weak, indecisive Prime Minister and a very strong Opposition leader. And I was particularly blown away, Bridget, by the prime minister not fessing up that his own government modelled changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax with respect to homeownership.The prime minist...

Politics

1 week ago Australia news live: Turnbull says negative gearing ‘examined by every government’; measles warning issued for greater Melbourne area

Follow today’s news liveAnywhere but Canberra: Australian voters on what matters to themInteractive guide to electorates in the Australian electionListen to the latest episode of our new narrative podcast series: GinaSee all our Australian election 2025 coverageGet our afternoon election email, free app or daily news podcastBoth parties claim victory in last night’s debateThe political reaction to last night’s debate is coming in thick and fast. No surprises here that the Liberals believe their leader Peter Dutton won with flying colours, while Labor has backed Albanese for the victory.I saw a very weak, indecisive Prime Minister and a very strong Opposition leader. And I was particularly blown away, Bridget, by the prime minister not fessing up that his own government modelled changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax with respect to homeownership.The prime minister says the government did not commission any advice on negative gearing or capital gains tax changes, but the t...

Events

1 week ago $500 for the nosebleeds? Lady Gaga fans furious over ticket prices for Australian shows

The Mayhem tour’s ticketing agencies deny dynamic pricing has been implemented, but fans have complained prices are high and inconsistentElection 2025 live updates: Australia federal election campaignGet our afternoon election email, free app or daily news podcastThe little monsters are not happy. Lady Gaga fans have swamped social media to complain about exorbitant ticket prices for the pop star’s Australian concerts, with many speculating that dynamic pricing is involved – a claim the official ticketing agency for the Melbourne and Brisbane shows, Ticketmaster, has denied.Off the back of her chart-topping album Mayhem, Lady Gaga is heading to Australia for the first time in 11 years, with Live Nation bringing the Mayhem Ball to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane in December. Ticketmaster, which is owned by Live Nation, is responsible for the ticket sales in Melbourne and Brisbane. Ticketek is separately handling the Sydney show, because of its affiliation with Sydney venue Accor Stadi...

Economics

1 week ago Too much like Trump? Australia’s opposition leader Peter Dutton risks turning off voters

Dutton has taken the Liberal party further to the right, but his strategy of aping the US president could be unravelling as Trump tariffs cause chaosSee all our Australia 2025 election coveragePeter Dutton, the man who would be prime minister of Australia, is one of the hard men of the country’s politics.So, with Australia facing a federal election now set for 3 May, it was not a huge step for him to start road-testing some of the language and policies of Donald Trump after his win in the US last November. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Anthony Albanese backs Australian cafe owner in Canada over reported Vegemite stoush with local authorities

Australian PM says dispute over added vitamins in breakfast spread is ‘rather odd’ given Canada accepts shipments of UK’s MarmiteElection 2025 live updates: Australia federal election campaignGet our afternoon election email, free app or daily news podcastAs the Trump administration’s tariff regime dominates headlines, Australia and Canada have become entangled in their own mini trade stand-off.Australia’s prime minister, Anthony Albanese, on Tuesday threw his support behind a cafe owner in Toronto who was reportedly in a dispute with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) over importing Vegemite.Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter Continue reading...

Culture

2 w. ago Net closes in on Valerie with new footage of dachshund after more than 500 days at large on Kangaroo Island

Team leading South Australian search says risk of disrupting other wildlife has made it hard to capture missing pet dogElection 2025 live updates: Australia federal election campaignGet our afternoon election email, free app or daily news podcasNew footage of Valerie the miniature dachshund, missing since 2023, shows her sniffing around a trap and capering with a food box.But more than 500 days since she escaped from a pen on Kangaroo Island in South Australia, Valerie is still at large.Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Garbage bag giant fined $8.25m for falsely claiming products were recycled plastic

Clorox, the company behind GLAD garbage bags, advertised them as made from 50% recycled plastic from the oceanElection 2025 live updates: Australia federal election campaignGet our afternoon election email, free app or daily news podcastThe company behind GLAD garbage bags has been fined $8.25m for falsely claiming the products were made from recycled ocean plastics.The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission took Clorox Australia to the federal court over the misleading claims made between June 2021 and July 2023.Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Bondi Westfield attack victims ‘should still be here’, Anthony Albanese says in first anniversary tribute

PM also praises first responders’ courage and a community ‘united in grief’ one year after stabbing rampage that killed sixElection 2025 live updates: Australia federal election campaignGet our afternoon election email, free app or daily news podcastAnthony Albanese has paid tribute to the victims of the Westfield Bondi Junction stabbings one year on from the tragedy.Forty-year-old Joel Cauchi killed Ashlee Good, 38, Jade Young, 47, Yixuan Cheng, Pikria Darchia, 55, Dawn Singleton, 25, and Faraz Tahrir, 30, and injured a further 10 people at Westfield Bondi Junction on 13 April 2024 before he was shot and killed by police inspector Amy Scott.Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Melbourne cinema says threats caused it to cancel fundraising screening of Oscar

Exclusive: Jewish Council of Australia’s Sophia Kagan says she was told there were protests planned against the screening of No Other Land in ElsternwickElection 2025 live updates: Australia federal election campaignGet our afternoon election email, free app or daily news podcastA fundraising screening of the Oscar-winning documentary film on the Israeli displacement of the Palestinian community, No Other Land, has been cancelled by a Melbourne cinema after organisers the Jewish Council of Australia said the cinema received threats.JCA had arranged with Classic Cinema in Elsternwick to host the screening of the Palestinian-Israeli Academy Award-winning film on 1 May, which was to be followed by a discussion between a Palestinian and an Israeli speaker, with one of the film-makers recording a dedicated message for the event.Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Legal and ethical ‘nightmare’ after woman gives birth to stranger’s child due to Monash IVF mistake

Case of incorrect embryo transfer at Brisbane clinic raises custody questions that could set a legal precedent in Australia, lawyers sayElection 2025 live updates: Australia federal election campaignPolls tracker; election guide; full federal election coverageGet our afternoon election email, free app or daily news podcastThe future of a child whose birth mother was mistakenly given a stranger’s embryo is a legal and ethical “nightmare” without precedent in Australian law, experts say.Monash IVF, which operates across Australia, has apologised after a patient at one of its Brisbane clinics had an embryo incorrectly transferred to her, meaning she unwittingly gave birth to another woman’s child.Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Australian comedian ditches US trip due to concern she could be denied entry over Trump jokes

Alice Fraser thought she was being paranoid until her lawyer advised her jokes about Donald Trump and Elon Musk could be scrutinised at US airportElection 2025 live updates: Australia federal election campaignGet our afternoon election email, free app or daily news podcastAn award-winning Australian comedian has cancelled a planned trip to the US after receiving legal advice that she could be stopped at the border due to her previous jokes about the Trump administration.Alice Fraser, who has appeared on Australia’s ABC and the BBC and toured internationally, was due to head to New York in the first week of May to promote her recently published book.Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Palau president delivers barb at Peter Dutton over ‘water lapping your door’ hot mic joke

Surangel Whipps Jr also strongly backs Australia’s bid to host a UN climate conferenceElection 2025 live updates: Australia federal election campaignGet our afternoon election email, free app or daily news podcastThe president of Palau has delivered a pointed barb at Peter Dutton while strongly backing an Australian bid to host a UN climate conference on behalf of the Pacific, arguing that it would boost regional solidarity and he would be “deeply disappointed” if the attempt was abandoned under the Coalition.Speaking at a renewable energy conference in Sydney on Wednesday, Surangel Whipps Jr described seeing two-thirds of an island in his archipelago country disappear under water in his lifetime. “For those of us in the Pacific who have lived through storm surges, rising ocean levels and increasingly high tides, the phrase ‘water lapping at our door’ is not a metaphor or a punchline. It’s our fear and reality,” he said.Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newslette...

Politics