Daily Telegraph News & Politics

Israel has pounded the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, destroying Hamas strongholds, after one of the bloodiest attacks in its history. The Voice to Parliament remains unpopular across large swaths of the country. The victims of a horrific plane crash in SA’s Mid North have been identified. Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan was personally briefed about the Commonwealth Games cost blowouts in early March. Actor Hugh Sheridan has revealed he passed up tickets to the doomed music festival attacked by Hamas militants.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Israel is vowing “mighty vengeance” against Hamas terrorists who launched an unprecedented assault on the Jewish state, with more than 300 Israelis killed, 1800 wounded and dozens taken hostage in Gaza in what has been described as Israel’s 9/11.  Two Qantas baggage handlers and the brother of one of Australia’s biggest crime figures have been charged as part of a major AFP sting into a drug syndicate allegedly using insiders in Sydney International Airport.  South East Queensland councils are being forced to spend more than $100,000 of ratepayers’ money to clean up parks littered with illicit drugs, sharps and syringes.  South Australia is poised to make political history this week as Labor prepares to elect the state’s first Muslim MP. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cash-strapped Aussies are avoiding going to the GP for common chronic illnesses, with experts warning the cost-cutting has led to a surge in patients presenting at hospital emergency departments.  Biotech giant Moderna has revealed a ‘superjab’ combining vaccines or Covid-19 and influenza in the one dose has achieved a similar or greater level of effectiveness than existing shots.  More than 400 Adelaide Metro buses have been confirmed to still display pre daylight savings time as commuters are overcharged for validating.  Manly and Des Hasler are set to go head-to-head in court over his termination almost one year after the Sea Eagles sacked their former coach, following a season that was derailed after the Pride jersey saga.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Petrol theft has reached record highs in NSW this year, even before the price of unleaded rose above the $2.00-per-litre mark.  Two French backpackers ran for their lives after being caught in a fireball when a charging e-bike exploded inside a Sydney hostel, prompting calls from experts for tighter regulations on shonky batteries.  One of South Australia’s elite colleges is dealing with a serious scandal involving boarding students, with police called and students expelled.  Horror bushfire conditions are expected to return to swathes of NSW by the middle of next week, as the first major blaze of the season left at least three homes destroyed and south coast communities reeling. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The husband of shark attack victim Pam Cook has opened up about the incident in a South Australian coastal town, which left his wife requiring surgery and “a big chunk” of her leg missing.  The owner of a luxury car which was peppered with bullets while parked in a Sydney street allegedly asked homeowners with CCTV of the drive-by shooting to delete the vision of the 4am attack.  The official Yes23 campaign for the Voice has been accused of “dishonest” behaviour after it was pinged for using signage similar to official Australian Electoral Commission corflutes to urge people to vote yes.  A top Melbourne law firm was secretly hired by the Andrews government several weeks before it officially announced it would cancel the Commonwealth Games. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Queensland families have been torn apart in one of the worst long weekend’s for fatal crashes in recent memory.  A Sydney mother was dead 30-hours after her son was granted bail by a court, despite police alleging he tried to choke her and was a risk of harming her again.  Collingwood coach Craig McRae has all he needs - a treasured new daughter and precious shiny silverware.  Former Carlton player Tom Williamson stalked and harassed a woman around the time his career came to an ­abrupt end. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cassandra Sainsbury is desperate to ditch the moniker, Cocaine Cassie. Two young men have died on the first weekend of the music festival season, piling pressure on the Minns government to bring forward its planned drug summit. Footy is about family, at Collingwood its premiership party inside the MCG rooms on Saturday night was layered with loved ones who were lapping it up. The NRL has witness one of the all-time great NRL Grand Finals as the Panthers have completed their three-peat in a 26-24 win over the Broncos. Hundreds more “granny flats” will be available to any South Australian to rent, while development rules would be relaxed for backyard buildings, under official plans to tackle the housing crisis.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hundreds of schools across the country are trialling artificial intelligence tutors in the classroom, despite ongoing investigations into the ethical challenges of the controversial technology. The director of multiple Western Sydney disability service providers is behind bars, ­accused of defrauding the NDIS of more than $2 million. Collingwood has claimed its sweet 16th premiership with a four-point victory over Brisbane at the MCG. A Gold Coast entrepreneur determined to protect women by ridding dating app of predators is “filling a gap” in Australian cyber safety that should be taken care of by the state and federal governments. Adelaide Zoo senior keeper of primates Pij Olijnyk oversees a team of 10  staff but he’s under no illusions about who’s the boss. “We have to respect hierarchy,” he says of  his animal charges,  with orangutans Kluet and Puspa among the  best known.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New laws will prohibit companies from targeting ­advertisements at children and selling their private data. Newly installed Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson took her turn in the hotseat yesterday as she appeared before a Senate committee hearing into the nation’s airline industry. Jacinta Allan has been ­appointed Victoria’s 49th Premier, after a tense day of backroom deals to get the job. A young apprentice is fighting for his life after he fell 4m down a hole at a Brisbane worksite that has had previous claims of safety concerns. The University of Adelaide has fallen out of the top 100 world rankings, falling 23 places from last year.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former Qantas boss Alan Joyce the most wanted man in Australia. Embattled NSW backbench MP Tim Crakanthorp is one of the biggest spenders on business class flights in the state, racking up $9,000 on flights to Darwin and nearly $18,000 in office travel expenses in four months. Premier Daniel Andrews has resigned as Victoria’s Premier, stepping down from the role from 5pm on Wednesday. Adam Reynolds has spoken passionately about his love of the Broncos and Brisbane, admitting he thought he could never embrace another club like his cherished South Sydney Rabbitohs. The Royal Adelaide Hospital could free up 40 beds and cut ramping if it improved its efficiency in discharging patients, an independent investigation has found.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The damage caused by six months of using a vape equates to five years of cigarette ­smoking, according to a shock new finding by medical ­experts. Australian rugby faces becoming an amateur sport, such is the disastrous decline of the game overseen by decades of administrative and coaching failures. Australians in remote communities have begun to cast their votes in the historic Voice to Parliament referendum, as Anthony Albanese’s olive branch to the Coalition to work together if Yes wins is dismissed as insincere. A dedicated ambulance ramping bay opened in the Princess Alexandra Hospital to create a more “comfortable experience” for patients is proof, the LNP says, that the government is unable to fix the problem. Tennis superstar Nick Kyrgios has been spotted on one of Adelaide’s best known dining strips.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The nightmare for young home-hunters is set to dramatically worsen, with the pain of 12 interest rate rises now magnified by a shock property price surge across swathes of Sydney due to a migration boom and a building bust that both have years left to run.  A murder contract of up to $1m was on the head of gangland heavy Gavin Preston when he was shot dead.  The stunning recovery by the sole survivor of the deadly mushroom lunch has been called a “miracle” by his close-knit community, as churchgoers said they were praying the “truth will come out” about the mysterious poisoning.  SA Premier Peter Malinauskas and nearly his entire cabinet have declared being members of Qantas’s ritzy invitation-only Chairman’s Lounge – despite his recent criticism of the airline.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mushroom poisoning victim Ian Wilkinson has been released from hospital and is making “significant progress” in his recovery.  A new poll has found hardly any Australians rank the Voice as a top priority issue for the government.  Health fund executives have been rewarded with million-dollar-plus pay rises, as their members brace for the misery of another round of above-inflation premium rises.  Adelaide scientists believe seaweed found in South Australia’s southeast is key to creating the ultimate anti-ageing formula. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Police have seized a 200kg cocaine cache at the Port of Melbourne in the latest huge bust linked to the technique of parasite smuggling.  Tolls on the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Tunnel will rise for the first time in more than a decade as the Minns government moves to make the tolling system “fairer”.  Police are set to recruit up to 200 officers from overseas to fast track moves to fill a range of crucial vacancies.  After a 70-year stewardship of the News Corp and Fox conglomerates, Rupert Murdoch announced yesterday he will be formally stepping down as Chairman in November.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Anthony Albanese has ignited a political firestorm by excluding state decisions from a sweeping Covid inquiry with accusations he’s protecting Labor premiers from scrutiny, while focusing solely on the former Morrison government. The Harbour City is relying on Penrith as it’s last hope for football finals victory in the NRL, with the Panthers the only local team left in the top four. Two rail strikes will halt train services across Melbourne next month as union members take industrial action after talks with Metro Trains failed. Water Minister Glenn Butcher has demanded the LNP reveal where it would build dams in South East Queensland, amid an escalating battle over water security as dam levels fall. A new state government campaign is urging South Australians embarking on new home builds or renovations to do their homework before signing a contract – as the construction industry reels from the collapse of another major builder.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The inglorious end to Alan Joyce’s 15 years as Qantas chief executive has cost him at least $500,000 with a further $10.5m in doubt after the board finally acted in response to an “acute loss of trust” in the airline. Specially prepared “kill cars” have been seized by police across Sydney before they can be used in the next underworld assassination, kidnapping or drive-by shooting. Homicide detectives will probe how a three-day manhunt across two states turned deadly after specialist police shot dead an armed fugitive in northern Victoria. The number of Queenslanders receiving vital surgery and seeing specialists in Queensland hospitals has returned to pre-Covid-19 levels, but there are still thousands of patients waiting longer than clinically recommended, new data reveals. South Australians are being warned to prepare for an intense bushfire season thanks to higher fuel loads in regions such as the Adelaide Hills.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A senate probe has heard Airfares could have dropped by 10 per cent if the federal government hadn’t rejected a bid from Qatar Airways for extra flights into Australia.  NSW is set for its first scorching summer in four years with an El Nino event declared amid a spring heatwave and warnings of a tough bushfire season ahead.  The Palaszczuk government has issued its third major policy backflip in less than one week as it seeks to overcome dire polling which shows it’s on track to lose next year’s election.  An alleged gunman on the run posted videos of himself ­threatening another man tied to a leash and boasted about being part of the Finks outlaw motorcycle gang.  And An 11-year-old driver has been charged following a police pursuit in South Australia on Tuesday morning. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Groundbreaking technology will give police real-time access to emergencies as they unfold through the public’s mobile phones when a triple-0 call is made.  A Queensland “clearing house” for corruption tip-offs and complaints deemed unviable five weeks ago will now be turned into reality, with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk confirming the state government was back on board with the ditched Coaldrake review recommendation.  Sydney is closed for lunch and Christmas has been cancelled, after the state government axed two events championed by former premier Dominic Perrottet to get people back spending money in the CBD.  An Adelaide man stabbed nearly in the heart was an innocent bystander amid accusations of a messy love triangle and revenge. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Popular dating apps such as Bumble, Tinder and Hinge have been handed an ultimatum by the federal government – make your platforms safer or the commonwealth will do it for you. Detectives across the state are being taken off investigations and put back into uniform to cover shortages on the front line, so bad is the current employment crisis in the NSW Police Force. Councils are slugging Victorians with sneaky new bin taxes of up to $179 and raising rubbish rates by 10 to 20 per cent as the state continues to struggle with the landfill crisis. Distressed patients battling cancer have slammed a decision by Gold Coast University Hospital to mothball a world-leading medical device that prevents hair loss during chemotherapy treatment. After a screaming success at yesterday’s City-Bay Fun Run, organisers are now aiming for a record-breaking crowd of 50,000 to celebrate the race’s 50th event next year (it was cancelled twice by Covid).See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prominent Aboriginal activist and No campaigner Warren Mundine has warned that the agenda behind the Uluru Statement is a “metaphorical” declaration of war on modern Australia. Public sector unions are set for a salary windfall worth billions of dollars as the reward for helping get Labor into power as NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey prepares to hand down a budget he says will “fix the fundamentals” of an economy bloated by excessive debt. The Commonwealth should step in to help cover Victoria’s pandemic debt that is harming the state’s reputation and holding back the national economy, a leading business figure says. Queenslanders won’t be slugged extra fees to see a GP after the state government and doctors reached a compromise on a heated payroll tax stoush. Access to bank branches dealing with physical currency must be maintained for customers in the regions where ‘cash is still king’, according to regional residents.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.