Daily Telegraph News & Politics

Australia’s open-door policy to New Zealanders will add an extra $543m to the cost of the NDIS over the next four years alone. The mother of a baby girl abandoned in Sydney was known to the family who discovered the newborn. Company behind the iconic Hills hoist goes into administration. The RACQ motoring body is threatening to ditch insurance cover for more than a million motorists across Queensland. Australia Post will lift its prices for a slew of mostly business delivery services.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Decorated soldier Ben Roberts-Smith will appeal against a civil court judgment that found he murdered innocent civilians in Afghanistan. Police allege a Sydney father accused of stabbing his toddler son to death fatally attacked the child in a fit of rage. A shocking new study has found unstable housing can shave years off Australians’ lives. A second teacher in Adelaide's northeastern suburbs has been arrested and charged with aggravated indecent assault. Queensland’s new legislation to tackle youth crime is doing little to deter young offenders.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The RBA governor says Australians will have to get a housemate or stay at home with mum and dad as rents continue to soar. Ominous social media post made by an SA man accused of killing his partner. The QLD government will look to cut ties with professional services and consultancy giant PwC. Ben Roberts-Smith’s defamation judgement to be handed down. Record high indexation of university debt takes effect.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australia’s pension age will rise to 67 on July 1 but experts warn further increases should be gradual, spanning decades. The AFL’s independent investigation into the Hawthorn racism saga has wound up. Sky-high power prices are set to be pushed ever higher, with one of QLD’s biggest power generators remaining offline for longer. One of NSW’s greatest fullbacks says rookie Queensland No.1 Reece Walsh ­is an “all or nothing” player the Blues must go after.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Experts say illiterate students will suffer under a new NAPLAN grading system, reported against four levels of achievement instead of 10. NSW state politicians and public sector executives will cop a two-year wage freeze. A Gold Coast man has opened up about his incredible tale of survival, forced to pry open the jaws of a crocodile to save himself. State of Origin fever has hit South Australia.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The country’s biggest public health campaign to combat vaping will be launched in Victoria today.  A “crackdown” on taxi drivers breaking the law has failed to stop rampant fixed fare price gouging with Thursday nights the hot spot for Sydneysiders to get scammed.  Just one of Labor’s 66 election promises worth $140 million to Queensland sporting and community groups have reached a funding agreement, while only five are even being assessed.  Popular not-for-profit the YMCA has been caught underpaying staff with hundreds of employees left more than $1m out of pocket.  A teenage ute driver’s potentially dangerous decisions before a fatal crash on a major country highway are central to a police inquiry as tributes are paid to the popular former private schoolgirl victim. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Anthony Albanese has sounded the alarm of the state of the nation’s early childhood, disability, veterans and aged care systems, signalling fixing them will be a major focus of his prime ministership.  Ex-NRL coach Daniel Anderson has no recollection of the shocking bodysurfing accident that almost killed him and has left him a quadriplegic.  Queensland children aged four and under will be given state-funded swimming lessons just weeks after the government finalised its audit into swim education in schools.  Four teenage school friends have died in a horrific road accident on a lonely country Victorian road.  An Adelaide mother has told of the horrific abuse her 10-year-old daughter suffered at the hands of primary school students who beat her up and threatened to “rape” her if she did not provide them explicit photos of herself. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Police allege the encounter between an officer with a taser and a great-grandmother with a knife all played out within one minute.  A LAB analysis of “lolly” flavoured vapes widely sold in Queensland has revealed the devices are filled with a toxic cocktail of chemicals including arsenic, formaldehyde and lead.  Lawyers for the First Nations families at the centre of the Hawthorn racism scandal have recommended a settlement to the AFL which could end the long and damaging saga.   Fearful frontline health workers are urgently calling for help almost 30 times a day on average, amid escalating levels of violent and threatening incidents in the South Australia’s hospitals.  New SA Health data reveals clinicians and hospital staff made almost 80,000 “Code Black” calls to combat dangerous and abusive patients, families or supporters in seven years. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From her powerhouse vocals and rise to popularity as a black female solo artist, she also became a symbol of resilience after leaving her abusive ex-husband Ike and clawing her way back to the top to becoming one of the best-selling artists of all time.  A heritage building in Sydney’s CBD has gone up in flames and dramatically collapsed, firefighters have dodged falling debris and a car was set alight in one of the biggest building fires in recent memory.  Victorian households on basic energy deals will see their bills soar by an average of $352 - or 25 per cent - next financial year.  A world-leading medical expert believes 80 per cent of cancers will be able to be cured within 30 years but Australians may needlessly die because the federal government “has its head in the sand”.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Great-grandmother Clare Nowland  passed away in hospital last night, one week after she was tasered by a NSW Police officer in her Cooma nursing home.  The former NSW multiculturalism minister has been forced into an apology after making a comment  about a Vietnamese-Australian MP, which has been labelled “offensive” and “racist”.  A Centrelink worker stabbed in a bloody ambush in Melbourne is planning to launch legal action against the welfare agency for failing to protect her.  All parents at an Adelaide Hills school were only notified yesterday that a student who allegedly had a gun and a “kill list” of classmates was arrested and charged last week. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Australian sex offender, who enjoyed a decades-long career in showbiz until his arrest on indecent assault charges in 2013, died after a battle with neck cancer.  New data shows School-childrens’ lives are being put at risk by thousands of dangerous drivers who speed and run red lights at traffic intersections in school zones.  Firefighters are furious after their commissioner didn’t attend a state memorial service honouring Izabella “Izzy” Nash, who died in a fire earlier this month – the first such tragedy in nearly 30 years.  AN emotional Damien Hardwick walked away from Richmond having told the club “the tank is empty” as he revealed he had known this season would be his last coaching the Tigers.  An Adelaide teenager has been arrested and charged over ­alleged threats to kill some of his classmates.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sydney’s housing crisis is ­driving a wave of “working homeless” – residents who can’t find or afford a home despite holding a job – with the situation so bad an encampment of tents and car-sleepers has emerged in the heart of Anthony Albanese’s inner-west electorate.  A man has been shot dead in Sydney’s western suburbs and two burnt out cars have been found nearby, in the latest suspected gangland hit to rock the city’s streets.  A man who was shot dead by police in front of his family in an inner Brisbane suburb was released from hospital the day before, following a mental health incident.  Triple premiership coach Damien Hardwick has sensationally quit Richmond with one-and-a-half years remaining on his contract.  The family of a South Australian who died while hiking Mt Everest have shared an eerie photo of the 40-year-old posing victoriously on what appears to be the remote location.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The No campaign against an Aboriginal Voice to parliament has warned Australians a successful vote will inevitably lead to a treaty that will ultimately “divide Australians and destroy reconciliation”. Abbie Chatfield thought she had a good gauge on a player over someone genuinely looking for love … until she began shooting new reality show, FBoy Island. Signing up to a “buy now pay later” account will require responsible lending financial checks under changes the federal government is making to protect consumers. Some of the nation’s leading experts in child behaviour have joined forces to implore Queensland Education Minister Grace Grace to ban mobile phone use in schools. Premier Peter Malinauskas will challenge the nation to realise the lucrative jobs and skills opportunities from ­Adelaide nuclear-powered submarine construction, declaring many people do not yet recognise the program’s wider benefits.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The father of a young girl who swallowed a button battery has told of his daughter’s rocky road to recovery and the emotional toll it has taken on the family.Kindergarten would be made free under a cost-of-living shake-up being considered by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, in a move that would save Queensland families thousands of dollars a year.SEVERAL obstetricians at Cairns Hospital are considering leaving their positions especially if their workload spikes with the closure of the city’s private maternity unit, the country’s peak organisation for specialist obstetricians has warned.Victorian small businesses may be short-changed twice on a bill relief scheme designed to ease the pressure of soaring power prices.A new state government tax aimed at wealthy property developers is preventing local councils from freeing up surplus land for affordable housing.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For mum-of-two Adriana Carmona, finding a lump in her breast was not unusual.Next month’s state budget will not be in surplus for the 2022-23 financial year – despite the forecasts of last year’s state budget and mid-year ­review.Household energy prices will rise even higher and widespread business viability will be threatened if the state government adopts aggressive new carbon-cut policies recommended in a report it commissioned, industry experts warn.Opposition Leader John Pesutto is bracing for a hostile reception at a Liberal Party conference today.Obstetricians have warned the Queensland government the maternity crisis that saw the collapse of services in Gladstone is about to be mirrored in an even bigger regional city and will pose a nightmare for the newly appointed Health Minister.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The co-author of the Albanese government’s plan to transform the Australian Defence Force and combat China has sounded the alarm about the lack of lethality in the navy’s surface fleet, foreshadowing a major shift to smaller and more heavily armed vessels. Hundreds of patients have been awarded a total of $140m in compensation because of state government medical bungles in the past 13 years, parliament has been told.A teenager has died where he fell after a horrific knife attack at a western suburbs railway station.The immediate future of Queensland’s only children’s hospice has been secured with a $900,000 eleventh hour payment, after The Courier-Mail revealed funding for the vital service had not been extended in the federal budget.Police Commissioner Karen Webb has said she “shares the community’s concerns” about why officers used their tasers on a 95-year-old dementia patient with a knife at a southern NSW nursing home.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Joe Biden’s last-minute decision to cancel his trip to Australia and Papua New Guinea is a major blow to America’s standing in the region, experts have warned, and has forced the cancellation of the Quad summit in Sydney. THE truck driver charged over Monday’s horror school bus crash has said he saw a light “flicker” between the trees moments before the crash that caused “life-changing” injuries for multiple primary students. An army of 400 helpers are on their way to save NSW’s most overworked public school teachers from their crippling paperwork duties in one of the most significant financial investments to reduce workloads in recent memory. Fixing the spiralling housing and homelessness crisis engulfing Queensland has been handed to the youngest MP in cabinet, in a major frontbench shake-up that has thrown the Labor government into turmoil. Fears of property damage at a new climate change protest on Thursday has put authorities on high alert in the wake of a chaotic – and universally condemned – city stunt

Former Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens has warned a period of elevated interest rates is likely to persist as central banks around the world continue to tackle a “once-in-a generation” inflation crisis. South Australian year 4 students are trailing their peers when it comes to literacy, according to a newly released global study. Ten children on a bus packed with 45 students have suffered serious injuries in a horrific smash in Melbourne’s west. Junior trainee doctors at ­Westmead Hospital’s intensive care unit have spoken out about concerns of bullying, harassment, “unsafe” rosters and they say the unit is in ­danger of again losing its ­training accreditation status. Look out, Australia – Donald Trump Jr is coming to town.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Calls for new house construction targets tied to population growth, speed up approval times and support more “build-to-rent” homes. Missing woman found in South Australia. Key recommendations from a landmark inquiry into how Queensland Police respond to domestic and family violence have not been enacted. Concerns raised over a national scheme to facilitate the formal transfer of community-based orders between states. Sydney fended its off its rainy reputation to keep its hold on the New Year’s cricket Test.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Unsuspecting mum-and-dad investors are among those conned by a global “boiler room” scam – which netted more than $1bn. A man’s believed to have been killed in a shark attack near Elliston on the west coast of South Australia's Eyre Peninsula. Peter Dutton wants tech giants to step up and tackle QLD’s youth crime crisis. Minimal enforcement of current vape laws is giving Victorian retailers confidence to continue the lucrative trade. Fourteen per cent of young Australians now identify as gay.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.