Latest news with #ABCNewsBreakfast
ABC News
20 hours ago
- Automotive
- ABC News
Viral video shows crocodile stuck under vehicle at Cahills Crossing in Kakadu National Park
A video of a large crocodile becoming stuck underneath a ute at a notorious river crossing in the Northern Territory has gone viral online. Nearly four million people have watched the video on social media platform TikTok since it was shared on Monday by user Matteo Mastratisi. The footage shows a vehicle driving over a crocodile at Cahills Crossing in Kakadu National Park. The infamous crossing, which passes through the East Alligator River, is known for its high population of crocodiles. Speaking to ABC News Breakfast, Mr Mastratisi said he was filming Cahills Crossing to show his friend, who lives on the eastern side of the river in the remote community of Gunbalanya. "The driver had no idea there was a croc there, you couldn't see the croc under the water," he said. "The driver goes and hits a bump. You wouldn't want to stop in the middle of a crossing, especially a croc-infested crossing. "As soon as it was safe to do so, he stopped. I don't even think the driver knew what was stuck under the car." Mr Mastratisi said he spotted about 15 crocodiles near the crossing. "In the last 10 years of doing work [in Arnhem Land], I have never seen a car get stuck on a crocodile," he said. "It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime video capture." NT crocodile expert Grahame Webb said he would be surprised if the crocodile was permanently injured after the incident. "They are tough and they've got amazing abilities to fight any infection," Professor Webb said. "They're pretty well-armoured. They're great survival machines so I doubt the croc is seriously injured by this."
The Age
22-07-2025
- Politics
- The Age
Penny Wong: Israel condemnation channels Australians' ‘distress' over Gaza
Asked about Huckabee's criticism of the statement, Wong told Sky News: 'President Trump has been a very strong advocate for a ceasefire and hostage deal, and so are we.' She noted that several other US allies had signed the statement. A group of about 15 pro-Palestine protesters were detained inside Parliament House on Tuesday afternoon following a larger protest where hundreds gathered on the lawns of Federation Mall outside the building. Police collected details from the protesters, who were shouting chants as Governor-General Sam Mostyn addressed the Senate, before removing them from the building. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke described Israel's behaviour in Gaza as 'indefensible' and called for 'the slaughter to end' in a stark escalation of the government's language on the conflict. 'We're all hoping that there'll be something that'll break this. We've seen too many images of children being killed, of horrific slaughter, of churches being bombed. The images that we've seen have been pretty clear that so much of this is indefensible,' Burke said on ABC News Breakfast on Tuesday. Loading 'None of this changes the fact that the hostages need to be released.' Israel's ambassador to Australia, Amir Maimon, attacked the joint statement, arguing it is 'disconnected from reality and sends the wrong message to Hamas'. Opposition leader Sussan Ley said the return of hostages still held by Hamas was a priority. 'There are still hostages hidden in tunnels, and a way to end the situation is for those hostages to be released by the terrorists, Hamas, who control so much of the activity there,' Ley said. Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Michaelia Cash called the statement 'disappointing', and said the 'Albanese government's decision to blame Israel for Hamas's disruption of the flow of aid is appalling'. Greens leader Larissa Waters called for the government to sanction the Netanyahu government. 'The Israel regime isn't listening to stern words,' she said. Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler said ending the war unilaterally would fail to achieve the return of the remaining Israeli hostages or the surrender of Hamas. 'The Australian government, and international community, must come together to put maximum pressure on Hamas to surrender, and to ensure aid deliveries are not misused to embolden Hamas' grip on Gaza,' he said. Australia Palestine Advocacy Network president Nasser Mashni called for extensive sanctions on Israel and an end to any military co-operation. 'The time for these statements has long passed,' he said. 'People are starving to death because Israel refuses to allow aid into the hellscape it has created in Gaza. Families are being bombed and gunned down while trying to access water.' The international community has criticised the replacement of established NGOs with the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. According to UN Human Rights Council figures published last week, almost 900 people were killed in Gaza while trying to get food, including 674 near aid delivery sites. Earlier on Monday, Israeli tanks pushed into southern and eastern districts of the Gazan city of Deir al-Balah, an area of Gaza that had been largely untouched by the conflict and where tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians had sought refuge. The incursion has led to speculation that Hamas is holding large numbers of hostages there. The statement from the 28 nations also called out soaring settler violence against Palestinians on the West Bank, and hit out against the Israeli proposal to build a 'humanitarian city' in Gaza, which former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert recently condemned as a 'concentration camp'. Loading 'Permanent forced displacement is a violation of international humanitarian law,' the joint statement said. In a fiery response posted on X, Israel's foreign ministry rejected the joint statement, saying it 'fails to focus the pressure on Hamas and fails to recognise Hamas' role and responsibility for the situation'. The joint international statement reaffirmed the nations' support for those involved in brokering a ceasefire deal, including the US and Qatar.
CTV News
22-07-2025
- Climate
- CTV News
Toxic algae bloom off South Australia devastates marine life, tourism
A toxic algae blooms onto the beach near where a dead dolphin was found at Carrickalinga Beach on July 13, 2025 near Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by) SYDNEY -- A massive outbreak of toxic algae off South Australia, which has devastated hundreds of species of marine life and disrupted local tourism and fishing, is a 'natural disaster,' state Premier Peter Malinauskas said on Tuesday. The algal bloom, first detected in March, spans an area 4,500 square km (1,737 square miles) in size and has been aggravated by rising ocean temperatures, according to environment officials. 'There are over 400 different species of marine life that have been killed off or have had deaths as a result of this algal bloom,' Malinauskas told national broadcaster ABC's News Breakfast program. 'This is a natural disaster and should be acknowledged as such.' Malinauskas announced a A$14 million (US$9.11 million) support package to tackle the outbreak, matching a package by the federal government. The combined A$28 million would assist with clean-up efforts, research, and business support. The toxic bloom has been caused by overgrowth of the Karenia mikimotoi algal species, which affects fish gills and sucks oxygen out of the water as it decomposes, the state's environment department said. Contributing to its growth was a marine heatwave that started in 2024, when sea temperatures were about 2.5 C (36.5 F) warmer than usual. The bloom has impacted tourism and forced oyster and mussel farms to temporarily shut due to a waterborne toxin caused by the algae, local media said. Over 13,850 dead animals, including sharks, rays and invertebrates, have been recorded by the public on the iNaturalist app. Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt said on Monday the algal bloom was a 'very serious environmental event,' but stopped short of declaring it a national disaster, which would allow for greater federal support. (US$1 = 1.5363 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Christine Chen in Sydney; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
West Australian
21-07-2025
- Politics
- West Australian
Australian news and politics live: Tony Burke calls Australia's Gaza condemnation the strongest statement yet
Scroll down for the latest news and updates. Australia's latest joint statement with 24 other nations calling for an immediate end to the war in Gaza represents 'the strongest so far,' according to Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke. Mr Burke said this statement is just the latest in a 'series of very strong statements' the government has issued on the crisis. The statement, signed by Foreign Minister Penny Wong and counterparts from countries including the UK and New Zealand, condemns Israel for depriving Palestinians of 'human dignity.' Mr Burke reiterated that Australia has called for a ceasefire since 2023, following the outbreak of the conflict. 'There's been a series of very strong statements that we've made… When you can make a statement together with so many other significant powers, then, you know, we're all hoping that there'll be something that will break this,' Mr Burke told ABC News Breakfast. He continued, 'We've seen too many images of children being killed, of horrific slaughter, of churches being bombed, the images that we've seen have been pretty clear that so much of this is indefensible and as that statement referred to, you know, aid being drip-fed in. None of this changes the fact that the hostages need to be released, of course that needs to happen.' Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition leader Sussan Ley has arrived at a church service in Canberra in a tradition to start the new Parliamentary term. The service is a chance for both sides of politics to come together before the 48th Parliament sits on Tuesday. Accompanied by fiancée Jodie Haydon, the PM smiled when asked whether he was excited for day one of the new parliament: 'Indeed, it will be a good day'. In a sign of solidarity, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke and Liberal Angus Taylor walked in side-by-side. Among attendees was Governor-General Sam Mostyn, Nationals leader David Littleproud and his colleague Michael McCormack. Australia has joined the United Kingdom, France, and more than 20 other countries in demanding an immediate end to the war in Gaza and for Israel to lift all restrictions on aid. Foreign Minister Penny Wong signed the joined statement on Australia's behalf, with the signatories condemning the mounting toll on civilians and highlighting that over 800 Palestinians have been killed while trying to access food and water. 'The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths. The Israeli government's aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity,' the statement declared. The majority of those killed were in the vicinity of Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) sites, which the United States and Israel backed to take over aid distribution in the Gaza Strip from a network led by the United Nations. 'We condemn the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic need of water and food,' the statement continued. Read more. offered clarity on possible superannuation tax changes, attempting to reassure most Australians: 'This is not for ordinary superannuation accounts. Superannuation is there for people's retirement. There is proposal already in the budget but hasn't been legislated yet, which is to deal with people where they will still get tax concessions… but it is where your superannuation balance is more than $3 million,' he told Sunrise on Tuesday morning. 'I reckon there is not a lot of viewers at home watching this morning who are saying more than $3 million is their super balance.' Mr Burke also addressed broader challenges: 'When we first came to office three years ago now, we were left with a trillion dollars of Liberal debt when you looked across the forward estimates, and what was projected. So, we have needed to get debt down. We had two surplus budgets, the first surplus budgets in political terms in a generation.'
Sydney Morning Herald
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Heather Ewart won't use the word retire, but there's a reason she's leaving Back Roads
After 10 years, 234 towns, and countless beers and yarns at outback pubs, Heather Ewart is leaving Back Roads, the rural Australia showcase that sprung from her 2014 documentary, A Country Road: The Nationals, about the history of the National Party. It's a bittersweet milestone for the former ABC news journalist who won't use the word 'retire'. In truth, she was ready to keep road tripping for at least another year. But two cancer diagnoses that she has kept to herself over the past decade, and arm injuries sustained from a car crash in May outside the NSW town of Nimmitabel, have contributed to her decision. 'It was the 10th anniversary of Back Roads coming up. Timing matters. And I just always think it's good to go out on a high,' she says. 'And there's nothing more to wake you up about life than having cancer, or being hit head-on by a bloke asleep at the wheel. You think, 'Life can be short.'' Recently returned from a holiday in the Cook Islands with her husband, fellow ABC news veteran Barrie Cassidy (she was visiting there for the first time since 1980, when she covered then-opposition leader Bob Hawke's attendance at the South Pacific Forum), Ewart is pleased to be handing the Back Roads car keys to former ABC News Breakfast host Lisa Millar, who, like Ewart, grew up in the country. 'There are certain character traits that country people share, like 'no bullshit', and resilience. You never lose that,' says Ewart. ' B ack Roads has succeeded because it is about country people and not about the presenter or the scenery. You've got to be careful not to make it a travelogue. And I think country people, particularly, are really aware of that. I've known Lisa a really long time. I don't need to give her any advice.' The first episode of Ewart's final season takes her to the NSW farming township of Moree, where she meets famed wedding dressmaker Melinda O'Donoghue, who has a classic Back Roads story. 'She'll drive through floods and drought to get that wedding dress there on time,' says Ewart. O'Donoghue is likely to join the long list of friends Ewart has made on the road, many of whom attended her farewell party at the Richmond Bowling Club, in her home town of Melbourne. 'I invited some of the characters that I've interviewed, not thinking that they'd actually come,' says Ewart. 'And lo and behold, Lyn Westbury, a travelling hairdresser from Innisfail, flew down with her husband, Barry the plumber. And Gail Sharp, the baker from Birchip, came down. And a fantastic fellow, Josh Arnold, a great country singer who goes all around outback Queensland to schools, helping the kids write anthems about their schools and their towns, he flew down.
