Daily Telegraph News & Politics

Police have been called to schools across NSW almost 20,000 times in the past year, including for serious sexual incidents and violence involving pistols and swords.  Almost 100 Queensland state schools have been damaged amid the state’s dual disasters, with authorities now racing to repair facilities in time for the first day of school in two weeks.  Rents for Adelaide houses are about $60 a week higher than they were a year ago – making them more expensive than those in Melbourne and Hobart.  Looks like The Golden Globes might be going hostless next year, after last minute replacement host Jo Koy was slammed for his performance. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More than eight products a month have been recalled over button battery issues since new standards became mandatory. Queensland’s Corrective Services Minister is yet to be briefed on a major review of the parole board. Hundreds of pages of documents shed new light on the relationships between Jeffrey Epstein and the rich and powerful.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Twelve Australians made a miraculous escape from a Japan Airlines jet that burst into flames. Four sightseers in NSW have been rushed to hospital after they were struck by lightning in the Blue Mountains. A Victorian councillor whose home was raided by corruption investigators as part of a sports rorts inquiry will face court on drug charges. A major inquiry’s underway after an intimate image of a woman exposing herself while under arrest at an Adelaide police station. A record number of asylum seekers are arriving by plane, with many seeking refuge from conflict-free nations.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An Australian has died while fighting with the Israel Defence Forces in Gaza. A new report into the Sea World helicopter crash has revealed the pilot who died in the disaster had traces of cocaine in his system. Nearly 300 people were killed on Victorian roads in 2023. More than $3.5m has been paid out to settle civil claims against SA Police for misconduct. David Warner’s taken to Instagram with a desperate plea for the return of his backpack and his two baggy green caps.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Usman Khawaja will be allowed to wear a dove sticker in the BBL should he line up again for the Heat. Wet conditions continue across Queensland with access to the Pacific Motorway cut in two places. Investigations are underway following an apartment blaze in Sydney’s northwest. Rollout of the SA’s first mobile phone detection cameras will target drivers on the South Road corridor. Victorian authorities report a surge in scalpers trying to rip off Taylor Swift fans.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Authorities believe speed and alcohol were factors in the motorcycle crash that killed rugby league player Troy Dargan in the Cook Islands.  Households are set to be slugged almost $2400 upfront and businesses up to $31,000 to connect to the gas network from 2025, as part of a growing push to wean Victoria off the popular fuel source.  SA Premier Peter Malinauskas is attacking the “disgraceful” scheduling of Adelaide’s annual cricket Test – starting on a Wednesday in mid-January against the lowly West Indies  So-called healthy zero-alcohol drinks could be a dangerous gateway to the real thing for children and teens, according to Flinders University researchers.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Golf ball-sized hail battered parts of NSW’s Central Coast yesterday, with severe storms threatening Sydney, the Gold Coast and parts of Victoria in a third consecutive day of wild Christmas weather.  There was high drama on a gloomy harbour at the start of the Rolex Sydney to Hobart, with the official start of the 78th race kicking off with a near-collision.  To Victoria now where an area 24 times the size of Docklands will be put under state control to allow high-rise development as part of the first stage of the Suburban Rail Loop project.  Thunderbirds legend Emily Beaton is flying high in her new role as summer weekend weather presenter for 7NEWS Adelaide  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Children aged between 10 and 13 wanting   flashy items – and notoriety – are behind a worrying spike in robberies and thefts, police say. Politicians from across Australia’s major parties have been accused of recklessly spending taxpayer dollars on chauffeur-driven cars with some MPs clocking $20,000 in just three months. Australian Open tennis action will blast into life   almost a full week early in Melbourne with fans for the first time able to snap up bargain tickets to see the   world’s best tennis stars go head-to-head in charity matches. The full scale of major road and rail project cost blowouts will be revealed to Queenslanders twice a year, in a dramatic repudiation of former transport minister Mark Bailey’s penchant for hiding billions of dollars in overruns. A man accused of a horror stabbing attack on two women he did not know, killing one and leaving the other in critical condition, has flagged a potential mental health defence to the charges in his first court appearance. See omnystudio.com/lis

Queensland remains Australia’s favourite holiday playground, with new data showing the Sunshine State is the country’s tourism capital for the third year in a row. A traumatised mother and father hid their frightened children in a wardrobe as their southwest Sydney home was invaded by three masked men with a gun. His life was a rags-to-riches western suburbs tale that turned Franco Cozzo into a household name with his catchcrys imitated across Victoria. A federal government scheme established to keep a lid on North Queensland insurance premiums has spectacularly failed its first test in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Jasper. It was a bittersweet moment for Nicole Kidman as she premiered her latest screen effort in Sydney.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of Australia’s most notorious terrorists Abdul Nacer Benbrika was cleared to be released from jail yesterday despite still needing to undergo deradicalisation and being considered a potentially “moderate” risk of committing a terrorist act. A lip-reading expert claims Brittany Higgins was “plied” with alcohol and Bruce Lehrmann encouraged her to “drink that all now” at a Canberra bar on the night she alleges she was sexually assaulted, a court has heard. The owner of Atet – the controversial floating club in Docklands – is suing the City of Melbourne over the alleged wrongful termination of its licence and is seeking damages to recoup millions of dollars in losses. Queensland police could be granted new powers to randomly breath-test scooter riders and cyclists under a new crackdown aimed at curbing bad behaviour. Dozens of South Australian country towns will offer new GPs a $10,000 welcome under a new pay deal with the state government.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Solidarity among Queenslanders has been on full display in Queensland’s record-breaking flood, with residents mobilising in choppers, tinnies and jet skis to rescue neighbours and strangers, and townsfolk sheltering at the pub.  It’s been revealed one of Melbourne’s worst teen offenders stole vehicles valued at $1m in a four-week crime spree during which he was caught and released on bail three times.  A fifth man has been charged over the murder of bikie boss Alen Moradian, who was shot in broad daylight in Sydney earlier this year, as CCTV emerges of two men fleeing the scene carrying a firearm.  And Adelaide’s fickle and hectic weather will continue into the Christmas holidays bringing in both sunny and rainy days. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The federal government says it is not fighting to keep notorious terrorist Abdul Nacer Benbrika locked up in prison because he is not a significant enough danger to warrant it. Jimmy Barnes is making a brave recovery after undergoing serious heart surgery. A toddler died in front of horrified family members after being struck by a car on a busy road in Melbourne’s southeast on Sunday. Former Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s obsession with the Olympic and Paralympic Games has been rejected by Steven Miles, who will axe three portfolios and not name a dedicated minister for the role. Christmas travellers are bracing for more turbulence as one of the nation’s leading carriers was forced to apologise to customers amid escalating delays and cancellations.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kathleen Folbigg is set to seek a record compensation payout from the NSW government. Disaster recovery funding has been made available for North Queenslanders and regional councils. Victorians could soon be forced to switch to electric cooktops. Two new budget vehicles have scored zero-star safety ratings. King Charles will lead a megastar line-up honouring Barry Humphries at a state memorial today in Sydney.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cyclone Jasper’s expected to bring a storm tide along the north Queensland coast this morning as the weather system weakens while moving inland. The duo charged with the murder of South Australian pediatrician Michael Yung have been identified as a young Adelaide couple. The NSW government has announced a wages deal for paramedics. A Royal Commission into domestic, sexual and family violence will probe how to better protect women and children in South Australia. The federal government has shunned additional cost-of-living relief measures to improve the Budget bottom line.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cyclone Jasper has intensified to a Category 2 and is expected to make landfall this afternoon. A young boy and a man have perished in a light plane crash northwest of Grafton in northern NSW. Victoria Police are expected to arrest a man wanted interstate weeks after the High Court ruled he could not be kept in immigration detention indefinitely. SA Police are investigating whether a series of crimes are linked to a prominent doctor being attacked in his home. Barbie has topped the newly revamped Golden Globes film nominations.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Builders and construction industry leaders have expressed “shock” and “disappointment” over the Albanese government’s migration changes. Shock shift in who MPs believe should become Queensland’s next Premier. A court has heard the driver of a BMW that ploughed into the beer garden of a rural Victorian pub last month ­received nine alarms to treat his low blood sugar. NSW Police are investigating if a man’s been the target of two firebombings in three months. One of South Australia’s most eminent doctors is fighting for life after being attacked during a home invasion.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brittany Higgins’ former boyfriend says she told him in a phone call the morning after her alleged rape that “we brought the party back to Parliament House”, the Federal Court was told yesterday.  Sweltering heat and dry conditions predicted for this summer could see Victoria’s most bushfire prone areas spend more than $140bn in rebuilding costs.  A second top private school in South Australia will charge parents tuition fees of more than $30,000 for its senior students next year.  Police have not hired any of the 114 new specialist domestic violence officers budgeted for, a year on from a damning inquiry which recommended they increase the number of cops in their vulnerable persons unit. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

FBI agents have arrested a man in the US in connection to the Wieambilla police shooting, alleging he incited violence and sent “Christian end of days ideology” to extremists before the tragedy.  A hotel on one of North Adelaide’s best-known strips was quietly used to house “high risk” immigrant detainees for more than 18 months before one smashed a window and ­escaped – sending a nearby private school into lockdown.  Victoria’s public service has been sabotaged by a culture of fear and secrecy under Daniel Andrews, an alarming Ombudsman report has found.  Fast food giant McDonald’s has been hit with a $100m class action from current and former employees alleging they were forced to work before and after their rostered shifts for free. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The areas of Sydney that will be targeted for higher density housing and deliver tens of thousands of new homes can finally be revealed, after the Department of Planning accidentally published the full housing blueprint online.  An elderly man who suffered a catastrophic fall in his Hervey Bay home has died after an ambulance failed to show up in time to help him despite multiple frantic calls  South Australian Police say a joint operation with federal authorities responsible for monitoring former immigration detainees is “working well”  King Charles and Queen Camilla’s long awaited visit to Australia will take place in late October next year.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An emotional Anthony Albanese yesterday announced his good friend, Labor MP Peta Murphy, had died after a lengthy battle with cancer, aged 50.  Destination NSW was dealt a $125m budget blow in Labor’s September budget, further fuelling fears that Sydney could be set to lose major events such as the Australian Open golf tournament.  After more than three months of deadlocked negotiations and two rounds of strike action, the SA teacher’s union is set to agree to the state government’s latest pay offer.  Gold Logie nominated actor Mark Coles Smith was told to “mind your own business” after disturbing a group of offenders carrying out an arson attack on a Collingwood convenience store.  Queensland is bracing for its first cyclone of the season as the Bureau of Meteorology keeps a close eye on a tropical low that is expected to develop into a category 3 tropical cyclone by Thursday. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.