Daily Telegraph News & Politics

The Australian Open Golf in Sydney attracted almost 60,000 people over the weekend and showcased the city to the world – but there are fears a lack of funding means it will be moved to Melbourne next year.   Seafood Industry Australia CEO Veronica Papacosta said “strong availability” and limited supply chain issues unlike previous years would keep festive price hikes at bay, including for the nation’s beloved Christmas favourite, prawns.   Upgrading the RNA Showgrounds to give the Brisbane Lions and Queensland Cricket a home during the Gabba rebuild isn’t the state government’s responsibility, Sport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe has sensationally declared.   In Adelaide, a physical altercation had ­broken out at a northern suburbs wedding, spilling onto a residential street, before a car reversed into the crowd, CCTV footage reveals.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Labor is under pressure to ­justify the release of 142 ­immigration detainees after a High Court ruling on one test case involving a convicted child sex offender, as the ­Coalition argues there was no need to let so many people out. Athletics Australia has lambasted Daniel Andrews for dumping the Commonwealth Games, saying it will cause “immeasurable harm”. A tourism industry leader is calling on the government to help Adelaide leapfrog Melbourne as southern Australia’s premier cruise ship home port or risk losing a significant portion of the $215m cruising made for the South Australian economy last year. A boutique 20,000-seat stadium will be constructed at Brisbane’s inner-city RNA Showgrounds under a state government plan to host AFL and cricket fixtures while the Gabba is redeveloped to host the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Lobster lovers may have to shell out $150 a kilo this Christmas as wild weather off Victoria and Tasmania triggers possible shortages.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy info

Hands visibly shaking, a tearful Brittany Higgins held up a diagram showing the exact location of the couch in Parliament House where she was allegedly raped. Dumped radio host Lauren Phillips has questioned whether a Sydney-based show will work in her beloved Melbourne hometown. Playford has become the second council this month to stop reading out an Acknowledgment of Country following a lengthy “culture wars” debate between councillors. One of Australia’s top international music exports has slipped quietly into Sydney undetected.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brittany Higgins will give “graphic and distressing” evidence about allegations she was sexually assaulted in Parliament House by Bruce Lehrmann, a court has heard. Unions and developers have joined forces to push for urgent reforms that would give nurses, ambos and other essential workers a fighting chance of being able to afford to live in Sydney. Australia’s largest cruise operator will pull several of its ships from Melbourne in protest against the Victorian government’s decision to increase its ports tax from next year.  Shocking footage, that will be vital at the inquest into Queensland’s deadliest police massacre, details the moment Good Samaritan Alan Dare arrives to help his neighbours only to be fatally shot by a camouflaged gunman lying in wait seconds later, his devastated widow has revealed. A three-month-old baby girl was taken to hospital after being showered with glass when a wall at a neighbouring construction site collapsed in the wake of the wild storm in Adelaide overnight on Monday.See om

Bruce Lehrmann has admitted to taking cocaine on the night he learned he was the subject of sexual assault allegations, telling a court he “spiralled” after watching Brittany Higgins’ The Project interview. Training for venue bouncers is “not fit for purpose” and needs to be urgently overhauled as part of a broader move to ­turbocharge Sydney’s night-time economy. A released immigration detainee who refused a mandatory electronic tracker was uncontactable to police and at large in the community as Labor refused to reveal any details about the case. The worst of the storm  missed Adelaide, but Whyalla, Port Augusta, Port Pirie, Jamestown, Melrose, Peterborough and Olary were affected.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Police and border agents monitoring convicted criminals released from immigration detention will get $255m to bolster tracking efforts and prosecute any individuals who breach sweeping emergency laws.  Over 80 climate activists were arrested in the waters off the Port of Newcastle last night for overstaying their welcome just days after the NSW Police Minister was accused of encouraging the group to go ahead with the protest action.  The growing demand for affordable housing in Queensland has pushed a not-for-profit organisation to sell two of its inner-city properties so it can try and buy multiple new homes for those in need further out of town.  Abusive parents who attack educators online will be banned from South Australian schools for the first time, while aggressive families face longer sin bin penalties, under an official crackdown on surging bad behaviour. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Colleagues of an Adelaide mother allegedly murdered by her estranged husband inside their family home have revealed heartbreaking details about her final weeks as a fundraiser is set up in her honour.  Melbourne hospitals workers faced an onslaught of abuse last financial year – equivalent to more than one attack every hour – as staff warn aggression from patients and their families has spiked in recent years.  An ex-Adelaide woman accused of twice attempting to kill her former partner – then plotting to kill him and his mother after those attempts failed – has arrived back in Australia after being extradited from a Pacific island.  A Victorian Labor MP has warned the “body positivity movement” is normalising weight gain, leading to a surge in overweight women with “cascading” health problems. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hamas will release dozens of hostages from Gaza in an agreed prisoner swap and ceasefire deal with Israel – but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed the war will go on.  The woman seated alongside alleged killer teenager driver Dhirren Singh Randhawa has told police the son of SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens “ran across the road, into the path” of the vehicle moments before the fatal impact.  US band The Brian Jonestown Massacre cancelled a Victorian show on Wednesday after their Melbourne gig degenerated into abuse and fist fights on stage.  Australia’s richest person has called on the federal government to give the nation a “Christmas bonus” in the form of a petrol excise tax cut to deal with spiralling costs. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Violent men who are charged by police for choking women will be regarded as serious violent offenders and could be forcibly detained even after their sentence has been served under new laws to be introduced today.  The teenage driver accused of killing Charlie Stevens has been banned from contacting the four eyewitnesses to the alleged hit and run crash – whose conflicting accounts underpin the case against him.  Tens of thousands of Queensland public servants are set to receive a one-off cash boost in time for Christmas in a generous wage deal set to cost the state government $350m a year.  New schools for booming Western Sydney suburbs risk being overcrowded from the day they open, with existing primary schools already enrolling more kids than the maximum capacity of the proposed high schools nearby. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The parents of murdered water polo coach Lilie James will seek to sue St Andrew’s Cathedral School for gross negligence and a breach in its duty of care to her as an employee.  Prince Edward has arrived in Sydney on a four-day visit during which he is expected to officially open a mock Scottish castle in the grounds of prestigious The Scots College at Bellevue Hill.  Two thirds of aged care homes received at least one complaint in the past year, with inadequate pain management being one of the top concerns.  Court documents have revealed the driver charged with killing the son of SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens did a U-turn, sped up and was on the wrong side of the road at the moment of impact.  It’s been revealed Victorians out on bail are being charged with more than 500 jailable crimes a week. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The only mass public transport to and from Brisbane Airport during the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be the Airtrain, due to an exclusive deal with operators.  The rapidly-worsening drought has spurred the NSW Government into rolling out a $250 million package of low-interest loans in a bid to help battered farmers weather a forecast dry summer.  A judge has released a Sydney man accused by police of sexually assaulting his ex-girlfriend, her daughter and her mother in separate incidents.  Australian opener David Warner is set to withdraw from the money-spinning T20 series against India and return home immediately after the World Cup final due to burnout. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Taxpayers will fork out about $180,000 a month to electronically track 84 convicted criminals released from immigration detention as Labor scrambles to ensure community safety.  An Israeli supporter has been charged and a group of flag-waving Palestinian teens dealt with as youth offenders after a concerning clash on the streets of North Bondi.  Queensland Transport Minister Mark Bailey has again been exposed hiding billions of dollars in project blowouts just months after he almost lost his job for trying to hide a major overrun.  School swimming lessons are back on in South Australia, after the Education Department reversed a snap ban prompted by a spate of shark attacks.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

NRL boss Andrew Abdo has revealed plans for an NFL-style Combine to lure American athletes to rugby league as part of the code’s historic 2024 season kick-off in Las Vegas.   NSW Premier Chris Minns is today being urged to be “as bold as Bradfield” in his vision for the future of Sydney.  MP’s have been warned Victoria’s ailing state school system has suicidal principals, depressed teachers, entitled parents and violent, narcissistic students.  Hundreds of patients needing lifesaving medical treatment within minutes have been wrongly turning up to the Queensland government’s satellite hospitals – fuelling fears that labelling the medical centres “hospitals” could be putting people at risk.  A ban on Adelaide public school swimming lessons in the ocean after a spate of shark attacks could quickly be overturned. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A western Sydney business has come under fire for refusing to lease a jumping castle to a well-known Jewish school, with the owner then boasting about her decision on social media.  The AFL will begin its season in Sydney next year, as part of a bold plan to steal the spotlight in a special ‘Opening Round’ across the northern markets.  Adelaide schools might revoke their decision to ban kids from ocean-based surfing and swimming sessions, as shark patrols are set to return before summer.  A Victorian-led study has pinpointed the ideal time adults should sleep for good health.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

NSW, Queensland, South Australia and Victoria will be on the hook for at least 50 per cent of the cost of future road projects under an Albanese Government plan to push responsibility for transport infrastructure spending back onto states.  A former NSW senior constable accused of raping a 17-year-old girl in a police station while on duty and in uniform is set to fight the allegations at trial.  A cruise ship in the midst of twin Covid and gastro outbreaks has docked in Adelaide on Monday morning with passengers standing on their balconies waiting to disembark after the 18-day cruise.  A law forbidding hate speech and incitement to religious and racial groups could be overhauled amid criticism it isn’t fit for purpose, with NSW Premier Chris Minns saying “something has got to change” in the wake of heated protests over the Israeli-Palestine conflict.  He sings about loving angels but pop megastar Robbie Williams will show Aussies some love too as he prepares to tour the nation this week- kicking off the fest

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has sparked criticism after calling on Israel to stop “the attacking of hospitals”. Weekly pro-Palestinian protests in Sydney are costing more than $1 million to police each and Premier Chris Minns wants Canberra to help pay to the bill. Dozens of homeowners who live above the $10.8bn West Gate Tunnel have won a secret multimillion-dollar compensation payout because their land titles extend to the centre of the earth. Jewish Queenslanders are too afraid to tell work colleagues their heritage, wear the Star of David or give out their real names as they battle a rise in anti-Semitism. There are calls to make it easier for South Australians to live in caravans on private land amid the rental crisis, after a wave of support for a woman  evicted by a local council.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

THE fuel excise should be slashed to compensate for the Albanese Government’s impending cuts to road and rail projects while giving cost-of-living relief. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has “promised” to back Papua New Guinea’s own NRL team with players due to run onto the field in 2027 - and that side could include some top Australian talent. Optus will have to confront at least three official investigations and an avalanche of damages claims from business customers who experts say are “absolutely” entitled to more than $2 of compensation after the telco’s epic network fail. New tenants across the state are competing for just 5500 properties as Queensland’s rental availability plummets to a record low. In Adelaide Thousands of public school teachers brought city streets to a standstill on Thursday as they marched for better pay and conditions - but signs wielded by some suggest they should go back to the classroom.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Anthony Albanese is being urged to use rugby league as a “soft diplomacy” tool as the threat of China continues to loom over Australia’s relationship with Pacific Island nations. Optus executives have declared the telco will not refund customers for one of the worst telecommunications outages in Australian history because most would get “less than $2” and instead it will “reward” the patience and loyalty of those who do not leave the company. Any delays to the Metro West train line could hold Sydney’s cruising industry back for the next decade, businesses operating out of White Bay Cruise Terminal fear. The QLD state government has paved the way for all public primary and secondary schools to introduce flexible class schedules from next year – including four-day weeks and shorter days. The gap between what Queenslanders are forking out for health insurance has significantly widened in the past five years, with customers paying $332 a year more for their coverage than they’re getting back in benefits.  See omn

Rate rise number 13 by the Reserve Bank of Australia could be its most painful one yet. A Sydney family now needs an annual income of more than $250,000 to buy the average home. Signs spruiking major road upgrades across Victoria are disappearing amid tensions over the federal government’s infrastructure review. Acting Premier Steven Miles has travelled to Bundaberg as part of a regional Queensland blitz in the absence of Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, as the LNP leadership fanned out to some of the state’s most marginal seats. Premier Peter Malinauskas has called out the Australian Education Union saying it cares more about money over the wellbeing of year 12 students entering exam season.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The federal government’s push to have greater control over how Australian viewers can find content on new smart TV sets is being met with serious concern from the media industry before a new prominence bill is finalised. Sickening vision has captured the moment an adult driver callously discarded the body of a dead child onto the ground in the aftermath of a horror crash in Sydney’s west. Victoria may have the race that stops the nation but NSW has the race that gets everyone on their feet. Scrapping planned tax cuts for wealthy households would be a more effective way for the federal government to tackle inflation than axing Queensland road and rail projects, acting Premier Steven Miles has sensationally warned. Hollywood star Margot Robbie has been spotted at Brisbane Airport after a whirlwind visit to her home state. And she even shouted the bar at a trendy Brisbane venue.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.