Latest news with #Lidcombe
News.com.au
6 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Katy Perry goes undercover at Sydney shopping centre hours after landing in Australia
Katy Perry has been spotted going undercover at a suburban shopping centre in Sydney. The pop star landed in Australia on Tuesday morning ahead of the first show on her Lifetimes Tour in Sydney. The American pop star was seen wandering around the Lidcombe Shopping Centre in Western Sydney with her daughter, Daisy, in her arms. She kept things low-key, attempting to hide her identity under a beige cap and some dark sunglasses. Perry was seen browsing at Aldi supermarket and then had a look inside the discount department store Kmart. Despite her attempts to remain hidden, Perry was spotted by some fans, with whom she happily chatted and signed autographs. Although Perry sold out all her dates across Australia, she sadly experienced poor ticket sales on the US leg of her world tour. The set and production of her tour has also been mocked on social media, with some online critics calling it 'cheap'. 'Katy Perry said NO BUDGET for the Lifetimes tour!' proclaimed one viral TikTok, which showed Perry doing battle with her backup dancers during the hit E.T., wielding what appears to be a plastic Lightsaber. 'It's giving Temu gaga,' read one brutal comment, while another compared it to the infamous 'Wonka Experience' in Glasgow. Other elements of the show have copped fierce criticism too, including Perry's decision to use what appears to be AI-generated imagery in the video backdrops for the tour. Footage of Perry performing the song Lifetimes reveals the star on stage in front of a video compilation of happy, smiling revellers – but they aren't live shots from the audience and instead look suspiciously AI-generated. Pundits on social media dubbed the apparent use of AI imagery 'zero effort and low budget.'
Daily Mail
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Katy Perry stuns onlookers as she's spotted browsing at shopping centre in Sydney's western suburbs before kicking off Aussie tour
Katy Perry left onlookers stunned as she took a very casual shopping trip in Sydney's western suburbs on Tuesday. The American pop star was seen wandering around Lidcombe Shopping Centre ahead of kicking off her tour Down Under on Wednesday. The 40-year-old had daughter Daisy Dove on her hip as she stopped into a series of stores. Katy strolled by the Aldi supermarket and discount department store Kmart with her small entourage. She blended in with the locals in a low key ensemble including a grey Celine tracksuit, cap and sunglasses. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. Katy is embarking on her mammoth Australian tour this week. With tickets to the expanding tour selling like hotcakes, the Roar hitmaker announced two extra shows in February. Taking to Instagram, Katy revealed that she has added an extra show at Sydney 's Qudos Bank Arena on June 4, which will kick off the Australian leg. Katy will also play an extra Melbourne show at Rod Laver Arena on June 7. The Grammy-nominated superstar revealed that she had been humbled with the success of her Australian tour, with all previous dates now sold out. Captioning the announcement, Katy said: 'I am so blown away by the incredible demand for THE LIFETIMES TOUR that I will be adding a final show in Sydney and a final show in Melbourne to make sure all my Australian fans have a chance to experience the incredible show I am bringing.' With the new dates locked in, the hitmaker will play a hefty 15 Australian shows. The pop star announced the Australian Lifetimes tour just prior to her turn at the AFL Grand Final. The American pop star was seen wandering around Lidcombe Shopping Centre (pictured) ahead of kicking off her tour Down Under on Wednesday The original run included just one show each for Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth however, fan demand dictated Katy needed to add two extra Sydney and Brisbane shows. Crestfallen Adelaide fans issued their sorrow over missing out on their chance to see Katy in the flesh however, but they were not left out in the cold for too long. Listening to fan protests, Katy eventually added a run of four shows in the City of Churches. 'I heard you loud and clear Adelaide, I got you!' Katy wrote on Instagram. Extra shows were also added to Melbourne and Perth as demand for the Teenage Dream hitmaker continued to rise. Speaking to the Daily Telegraph promoter Paul Dainty said there was an 'overwhelming demand' for Katy Down Under. 'The fact that we're adding two more shows in Sydney and Melbourne to an already sold-out tour is huge.,' he said. 'This is a testament to Katy's incredible connection with her Australian fans.' Despite the singer's last album 143 being savaged by critics, the harsh words fell on deaf ears Down Under with the album debuting at Number 2 on the ARIA charts. The singer released the lead single from 143 in July, but the track - Woman's World - billed as an empowering feminist anthem - was quickly dismissed as ' unoriginal, hypocritical and formulaic.' The Teenage Dream hitmaker also faced criticism for the sexualised nature of the accompanying video. She was also criticised for her decision to work with music producer Dr. Luke after his highly publicised legal battle with Tick Tock singer Kesha. However, Antipodean love for Katy was no doubt buoyed by her stellar turn at the AFL Grand Final in September. Her 20-minute set included two tracks from her latest album 143, Lifetimes and Gorgeous, her collaboration with Kim Petras, after reports she had been restricted to just one new song by AFL bosses. Despite slipping the new songs in, it was the hits that got the crowd pumping with Katy kicking of with a rendition of Roar before ripping into Teenage Dream, Dark Horse and Firework. Katy also belted out I Kissed A Girl with Tina Arena before the pair moved into a rendition of the Aussie pop star's hit Chains. But she caused surprise with her setlist by not singing Hot n Cold, despite it famously being the theme tune to MasterChef Australia and jokingly regarded by many as Aussie's true 'national anthem '. She was reportedly paid a staggering $5million to put on a pre-game performance at the final.
News.com.au
26-05-2025
- Health
- News.com.au
Parents of two-year-old Pippa White speak as inquest examines her death in NSW hospital
The parents of two-year-old Pippa Mae White, who died of sepsis and pneumonia in Orange Hospital three years ago, have spoken of their ongoing heartache as an inquest examines the circumstances surrounding her death. Describing her grief as a life sentence without parole, Pippa's mother Annah White said she feels Pippa's loss in every moment. 'In everything I do, all I see is an outline of where you should be,' she said on Monday. Her father Brock, who is no stranger to tragedy after losing both his parents as a child, said he is 'broken' and 'walks around in a shell of my former self'. Many members of Pippa's family attended the inquest at Lidcombe Coroners Court on Monday wearing her favourite colour, yellow. Her grandmother Marianne Stonestreet said, 'I will always love her with every beat of my broken heart.' Pippa, who was just weeks away from her third birthday, presented to Cowra Hospital in NSW's central west with vomiting, diarrhoea and a high heart rate on the afternoon of 13 June, 2022. She died the next day after being transferred to Orange Hospital and the NSW deputy state coroner is examining whether her death was preventable. At triage, Pippa's heart rate was recorded as 171 beats per minute which is classified in the 'red zone' for potential sepsis and requires a rapid response, according to the NSW Health pediatric sepsis pathway document. The inquest heard that at the time Pippa arrived at hospital, all the emergency department's beds were full and an 8-year-old child who was being resuscitated in an ambulance was about to arrive. There had also been an incident involving another patient and police, and patients were being told at triage to expect a lengthy wait. Ms White took Pippa home to wait but returned shortly afterwards when her condition deteriorated and Pippa was transferred by ambulance to Orange Base Hospital. It wasn't until 4am that Pippa was given a blood test which revealed a serious infection. A chest X-ray then showed she had pneumonia. She was administered antibiotics but died later that day of sepsis and pneumonia. Pippa's parents are now calling for statewide reform to see family members given greater power to raise concerns with hospital staff. Ms White told media gathered outside the courtroom, 'I hope hearing about Pippa's last moments during this inquest lights a fire deep inside you to fight for change.'
Sydney Morning Herald
19-05-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
Bondi Westfield response not ‘match fit', says counter-terrorism expert
A control room operator during the Bondi Westfield stabbing attack has been described as not 'match fit' by an international counter-terrorism expert, who said she was 'the wrong person at the wrong time' in the high-pressure job. A coronial inquest also listened to a harrowing triple zero call made 10 minutes after Joel Cauchi began his knife rampage, in which the operator passed on 'mixed-up' and confusing information to police. Monday marked the opening of the fourth week of evidence in the Lidcombe Coroner's Court. Psychological and security are experts expected to reflect on the horrific mass stabbing and response over coming days. The first was international British counter-terrorism expert Scott Wilson, who was tasked with reviewing the security response. Loading Much evidence has been heard about the competence of a control room operator, known only as CR1 by court order, who was watching the Westfield's cameras on the day of the attack. Cauchi had turned his military knife first on Dawn Singleton at 3:33pm and then Jade Young seconds later on 13 April 2024. But against protocol, CR1 had stepped out of the room 40 seconds before Cauchi began his attack. In three minutes, Cauchi had fatally wounded six people and 10 injured others.
Daily Mail
14-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Defiant, argumentative and tearful: STEPHEN GIBBS details how Joel Cauchi's psychiatrist squirmed in the spotlight as she was finally grilled over his deadly rampage
Joel Cauchi's psychiatrist went from argumentative to defiant before finally admitting she was wrong as her treatment of the Bondi Junction mass killer was again put under the spotlight on Wednesday. Dr A - who cannot be identified for legal reasons - returned to the witness box in the State Coroners Court at Lidcombe where she repeatedly clashed with Sue Chrysanthou, SC, the barrister representing three of the families of Cauchi's victims. It followed Dr A's statement on Tuesday where she said Cauchi's rampage stemmed from 'sexual frustration, pornography and hatred towards women' rather than his psychotic state. Although Dr A withdrew her statement after conceding she had indulged in 'conjecture and speculation', she remained defiant on Wednesday. At one point, Dr A told Chrysanthou, 'I don't think you have any degree in medicine', while being quizzed about Cauchi's mental health. At another, Dr A objected to a question from Chrysanthou about Cauchi's schizophrenia by saying: 'That's not true, I have to educate you.' Chyrsanthou: 'I don't want to be educated. I just want you to answer the question.' By the time the psychiatrist was due to face re-examination by Peggy Dwyer, senior counsel assisting the coroner, Dr A, who took Cauchi off all anti-psychotic medications because he didn't like the side effects but remains adamant that she committed no errors in her treatment, was in tears and could not go on. The lunch break was taken early so she could compose herself. State Coroner Teresa O'Sullivan is investigating the shopping centre massacre on April 13 last year when 40-year-old knifeman Cauchi killed five women and one man. The carnage ended only when Inspector Amy Scott arrived on the scene and shot Cauchi dead. Those killed by Cauchi were shoppers Dawn Singleton, 25, Jade Young, 47, Yixuan Cheng, 27, Ashlee Good, 38, Pakria Darchia, 55 and security guard Faraz Tahir, 30. The inquiry has previously heard that Cauchi was 'floridly psychotic' but Dr A, who treated him for eight years until 2020, rejected that assessment on Tuesday and denied she had failed in his care. Dwyer: 'What would you say to the suggestion that you refuse to accept that Joel was psychotic on the 13th of April because you don't want to accept yourself the failings in your care of Joel?' Dr A: 'I did not fail in the care of Joel. I refuse - I have no error on my behalf.' On Wednesday, Dr A continued to deny any failings, having helped wean Cauchi off his anti-psychotic medication by July 2019. Dr A's first day giving evidence had featured heated testimony during which she became irritated with Dr Dwyer's line of questioning, telling her to 'move on'. She began her second stint in the witness box by apologising for her behaviour the previous day, admitting she had been 'short at times' with Dwyer during her testimony. 'That's because I am suffering from acute pain and on medication,' she said Cauchi, who grew up in Toowoomba on Queensland's Darling Downs, had been diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teen and had been successfully treated for more than two decades. Dr A gradually eased Cauchi off the two antipsychotic drugs he was taking - aripiprazole and clozapine. After Cauchi ceased taking the drugs, his mother Michele contacted the psychiatrist's private clinic seven times raising concerns about possible signs of relapse. Those signs included him leaving notes around their home about Satanic control, experiencing extreme obsessive-compulsive disorder and poor sleep. Dr A previously told the court Cauchi had never been psychotic after he stopped taking aripiprazole and clozapine. She believed he had first-episode schizophrenia, rather than chronic schizophrenia, because he had remained symptom-free while medicated. In early 2020, near the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cauchi moved to Brisbane when he was completely cut off from psychiatric care. Having discharging Cauchi to his Toowoomba general practitioner after he relocated to Brisbane, Dr A said there was nothing she could do to follow up his care. Dwyer suggested on Tuesday that Dr A could have made a phone call. 'You could have done that, you just couldn't charge for it,' she said. Dr A accepted she could have done that. On Tuesday, Dr A had also said Cauchi could not have organised the stabbing spree if he was experiencing symptoms of schizophrenia. 'It might have been to do with frustration, sexual frustration, pornography and hatred towards women,' she said. 'That is my opinion.' At the start of the inquest, the office in charge of the police investigation, Detective Chief Inspector Andrew Marks, said Cauchi did not appear to have been targeting women. Chrysanthou, who is looking after the interests of the Singleton, Young and Good families, told Dr A on Wednesday her claims about Cauchi's mental state at the time of the attack had shocked and distressed her clients and was 'contrary to all the expert evidence'. Dr A withdrew her earlier statement. 'It was conjecture on my part and I should not have said what I said,' she added. Dr A saw no link between discovering in November 2019 that Cauchi had become obsessed with sex and watching pornography five months after he had stopped taking medication. 'I didn't see any connection between the two, I thought it was a new phenomenon,' Dr A said. Dr A had not believed Cauchi was paranoid when he expressed concern about having contracted HIV after what she called a 'dangerous sexual encounter' with a prostitute. 'It was a reality-based fear,' she said. When Dr A queried the relevance of another of Chyrsanthou's questions the barrister responded: 'Don't worry about the relevance of my questions, just answer them.' Dr A told the court Cauchi had never shown an interest in knives or given her reason to think he might be contemplating violent acts. After Chrysanthou's cross-examination of Dr A it was the turn of Ragni Mathur, SC, the barrister representing a general practitioner who had treated Cauchi. While working through the psychiatrist's contact with that physician, Mathur felt obliged to tell her, 'take a breath', 'pause, pause', and 'Doctor, take a breath'. 'I was satisfied that I did the right thing,' Dr A said at the end of Mathur's questions. Dr A's own barrister, Mark Lynch, had his client explain to the court she was never in a position to make Cauchi take medication if he did not want it. 'It's almost the patient's choice,' she said. 'We can't force them.' Dr A said during her eight years treating Cauchi he had never showed any symptoms of psychosis or signs of being a risk to himself or anyone else. Between December 2015 and February 2020 she had 47 appointments with Cauchi, other psychiatrists had seen him six times, and psychiatric nurses saw him on 77 occasions. Dr A told Lynch she had never been asked to give evidence in a court or tribunal until called to this inquest. Asked if she was doing her utmost to the tell the truth, she said: 'In here, definitely, definitely.' It was after Lynch had finished with his client that Dr A broke down in tears. When she resumed giving evidence following lunch it was under Dwyer's re-examination. After a more than a day and a half of giving evidence, Dr A was asked by Dwyer if she was now prepared to defer to the opinion of experts that Cauchi was psychotic when he killed seven strangers. After a long pause, Dr A finally said 'yes'.
