Posted
Refugee advocates say the Government's decision to send 10 unaccompanied children to a detention centre on Nauru has put the children at serious risk of mental health issues.
Topics: immigration, refugees, children, federal-government, mental-health, nauru, australia
Posted
| UpdatedOne of Coca-Cola's fastest-growing products, Frozen Coke and Frozen Fanta, was not included in the latest industry-funded study on soft drink consumption in Australia, which says we are drinking less of the sweet stuff than we were 15 years ago.
Topics: food-and-beverage, industry, research, obesity, health, diabetes, australia
Posted
| UpdatedA major review into the impact of clean energy on retail power prices is expected to clear the way for the Government to make significant changes to the Renewable Energy Target (RET).
Topics: climate-change, environment, government-and-politics, federal-government, alternative-energy, energy, electricity-energy-and-utilities, australia
Posted
| UpdatedThe foreign investment review threshold will be lifted to over $1 billion under the South Korea free trade agreement, full details of which were released today.
The deal will see tariffs on primary products that range from around 15 per cent to more than 500 per cent removed.
Trade Minister Andrew Robb says that should grow Australia's agricultural exports to Korea by 75 per cent over the next 15 years.
Business and farmer groups have generally welcomed the deal, but some community groups warn certain provisions could allow Korean companies to sue the Australian Government over various policies.
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, trade, agreements-and-treaties, foreign-affairs, australia, korea-republic-of
Posted
| UpdatedThe Socceroos have unveiled their World Cup playing kit with the uniform paying tribute to the inaugural 1974 Cup team.
Topics: socceroos, soccer-world-cup, soccer, sport, sydney-2000, nsw, australia
Posted
| UpdatedIndustry Super Australia has legal advice showing the Federal Government's planned changes to laws governing financial advice may not be lawful.
The Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) legislation took force in July last year, but the Coalition had announced plans to roll back elements of the laws.
Many of the changes would overturn reforms introduced in the wake of the Storm Financial collapse, in which some investors lost their life savings because of conflicted financial advice.
However, ISA's legal advice suggests a Government attempt to roll back some of the FoFA changes through regulation may be invalid, with financial advisers relying on the changes potentially exposed to legal action from clients.
Topics: regulation, business-economics-and-finance, australia
Posted
| UpdatedSPC Ardmona avoided closure last week when its parent company Coca-Cola Amatil and the Victorian Government announced a $100 million investment plan to keep the ailing company in operation.
ABC Fact Check examines the main claims and counter claims made about the conditions and entitlements of SPC Ardmona's workforce.
Topics: manufacturing, fruit, food-processing, rural, food-and-beverage, federal-government, australia, vic
Posted
| UpdatedRabbitohs star Sam Burgess will leave the NRL for English rugby club Bath after the teams agreed to a three-year deal.
Topics: nrl, rugby-league, sport, rugby-union, sydney-2000, nsw, australia, england, united-kingdom
Posted
| UpdatedCate Blanchett has won Best Actress at Britain's BAFTA awards for her role in Blue Jasmine.
Topics: film-movies, arts-and-entertainment, awards-and-prizes, united-kingdom, australia
Posted
| UpdatedPremier Jay Weatherill has dismissed questions about Cabinet support for an innovation project and Liberal leader Steven Marshall has sought to draw a line in the sand on public sector job cuts.
The campaign is officially underway for the South Australian election on March 15.
The leaders have debated the issues on ABC Radio, ahead of a second face-to-face encounter on tonight in the ABC TV studios, when voters will have their chance to question the major parties.
Topics: states-and-territories, public-sector, elections, government-and-politics, unions, sa, adelaide-5000, australia
Posted
| UpdatedPrime Minister Tony Abbott has ruled out long-term subsidies for the agricultural sector as he continues a tour of severely drought-affected regions of New South Wales and Queensland.
Topics: federal-government, government-and-politics, rural, drought, disasters-and-accidents, broken-hill-2880, bourke-2840, longreach-4730, qld, australia, nsw
Posted
| UpdatedImmigration Minister Scott Morrison says 35 asylum seekers escaped from the Manus Island detention centre last night but were quickly recaptured.
Mr Morrison says the breakout happened about 6:15pm (local time) and was the result of "much-heightened" tensions at the facility.
"Within about an hour and a quarter, control was restored to the centre," he said.
"All things were quiet last night."
Eight asylum seekers have been arrested and 19 have been treated at the centre's medical clinic, but Mr Morrison says none of the patients are "exhibiting life-threatening conditions".
Topics: immigration, community-and-society, refugees, federal-government, papua-new-guinea, australia, pacific
Posted
The Prime Minister has refused to comment on reports that Australian spies gathered intelligence for the United States on Indonesian trade negotiations last year.
Topics: foreign-affairs, government-and-politics, federal-government, world-politics, security-intelligence, defence-and-national-security, australia, indonesia, united-states, asia
Posted
| UpdatedVirgin boss Sir Richard Branson has taken out a full-page advertisement in News Corp papers urging the Federal Government not to provide financial assistance for rival airline Qantas.
Topics: air-transport, industry, business-economics-and-finance, federal-government, government-and-politics, australia
Posted
| UpdatedImmigration Minister Scott Morrison says an internal report on Australian intrusions into Indonesian waters will be shared with Indonesia before it is released publicly.
Topics: federal-government, government-and-politics, immigration, community-and-society, australia, indonesia
Posted
A woman is in a critical condition after falling off a cliff while bushwalking in Sydney's north-west.
Topics: emergency-incidents, disasters-and-accidents, colo-2756, nsw, australia
Posted
| UpdatedPolice expect to charge five teenagers after a stolen car crashed in Melbourne's east early this morning, pinning the 13-year-old driver behind the wheel.
Topics: road, accidents, disasters-and-accidents, police, crime, law-crime-and-justice, mooroolbark-3138, vic, australia
Posted
| UpdatedPrime Minister Tony Abbott has told drought-affected farmers the Government is close to finalising an assistance package that addresses the economic and social needs of rural areas.
Mr Abbott and Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce are touring parts of New South Wales and Queensland on Sunday, giving farmers the chance to talk directly to them about the drought and how it is affecting rural communities.
But part of the tour was cancelled because of rain - with heavy falls in Bourke, and some rain and strong winds in Longreach.
Farmers have warned that isolated rains will not provide them with enough relief to renew their businesses.
"This is a government that is determined to stand by the people of Australia in good times and in bad times," Mr Abbott told reporters in Bourke.
Topics: federal-government, government-and-politics, drought, disasters-and-accidents, bourke-2840, longreach-4730, qld, australia, nsw, broken-hill-2880
Posted
| UpdatedA group of South Pacific government ministers has praised Fiji's progress towards democracy, saying it should be rewarded with greater regional involvement.
Topics: government-and-politics, international-aid-and-trade, elections, fiji, australia, pacific
Posted
| UpdatedA 27-year-old woman has been charged over a hit-and-run on the New South Wales far-north coast that left a four-year-old girl in hospital.
Topics: accidents---other, crime, law-crime-and-justice, courts-and-trials, byron-bay-2481, nsw, australia
Posted
| UpdatedThe Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has experienced a massive spike in calls, letters and emails since the most recent public hearing was held into the Salvation Army.
Topics: royal-commissions, law-crime-and-justice, child-abuse, australia
Posted
| UpdatedEnvironment Minister Greg Hunt has backed the Coalition's direct action policy after the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) urged Australia not to abandon its "pioneering" role in the debate on climate change.
Topics: climate-change, federal-government, government-and-politics, australia
Posted
| UpdatedFlights from Australia to South-East Asia are mostly back to normal after an eruption from Indonesia's Mount Kelud forced some airlines to cancel their services.
Topics: volcanic-eruption, air-transport, indonesia, asia, australia
Posted
| UpdatedPolice are searching for a female driver who fled the scene after hitting a four-year-old girl near the Cape Byron lighthouse this morning.
Topics: accidents---other, accidents, disasters-and-accidents, byron-bay-2481, nsw, australia
Posted
| UpdatedShearers, graziers, shed hands and mourners from across the pastoral industry gather to remember a giant of the shearing world.
Topics: wool, rural, sheep-production, agricultural-crops, suicide, mental-health, depression, chinchilla-4413, qld, australia