Australia

ABC rejected Christian Porter offer to settle defamation court case

By: Amanda Meade and Michael McGowan   The ABC rejected an offer from Christian Porter to settle his defamation case weeks before the minister agreed to enter mediation, Guardian Australia can reveal. The former attorney general has claimed a victory in the high-profile case, but it is understood he originally made an offer for a relatively modest financial settlement without an apology or a ...

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Victoria to receive 130,000 additional vaccine doses

By: Tom McIlroy Melbourne’s spike in new COVID-19 cases is already driving bigger uptake of vaccines, with a record 15,816 doses delivered across Victoria in the 24 hours to Wednesday afternoon. A record for doses administered around the country – 104,658 jabs in 24 hours – was also achieved, as data collected by The Australian Financial Review showed about 2 per cent of ...

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Report into Australia Post’s handling of Christine Holgate’s resignation calls for Scott Morrison to apologise

By: Jade Macmillan A parliamentary inquiry into Christine Holgate’s departure from Australia Post has recommended the resignation of the organisation’s chair and an apology from the Prime Minister. The Senate committee chaired by Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young made 25 recommendations, many of which were not supported by Coalition members of the inquiry. It called for Australia Post chair Lucio Di ...

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Morrison’s staff not cleared over Brittany Higgins backgrounding allegations, Penny Wong says

By: Paul Karp Scott Morrison has controversially claimed his chief of staff had found his office did not brief against Brittany Higgins’ partner in the weeks after she publicly alleged she was raped in Parliament House. In a report, tabled in parliament on Tuesday, John Kunkel declined to make a finding that the prime minister’s office did brief against David Sharaz, citing ...

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Australia to close Kabul embassy ahead of troop withdrawal from Afghanistan

Australia will close its embassy in the Afghan capital of Kabul in three days, ahead of the withdrawal of Australia’s final contingent of defence personnel from the country. The embassy has been open since 2006. Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Foreign Minister Marise Payne said they hoped the closure would be temporary, and that Australia could reopen an embassy in the future. “In ...

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Doctors call for better COVID-19 vaccination promotion, warning Australians are ‘sitting ducks’ until they’re vaccinated

By: Jade McMillan Doctors are calling for a more effective communications strategy to convince people to get COVID-19 vaccines, warning Australians are “sitting ducks” until a much larger portion of the population is protected. Vice-president of the Australian Medical Association, Chris Moy, said he was worried too many Australians felt safe from the virus to the point where they were ...

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Tasmania crowned Australia’s best-performing economy as population booms

Tasmania has maintained its stronghold as the nation’s best performing state economy as the Apple Isle’s population and property market booms. CommSec’s quarterly State of the States report found Tasmania led all other states and territories on dwelling starts- which means new properties being built – and population growth. It was closely followed by the Australian Capital Territory, which was ...

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