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SBS Australia
23-07-2025
- Politics
- SBS Australia
Advocates urge reform of WA tenancy laws
Advocates urge reform of WA tenancy laws Published 23 July 2025, 8:43 am Western Australia has some of the weakest renter protections in the country and is now one of just two jurisdictions that still allow no-fault evictions. Housing advocates are urging reform while the WA Government says it's doing everything it can to build more social and affordable homes. The stakes could not be higher for one single mother in Perth who is now preparing to live in her car.
The Guardian
23-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Australia facing $500m Chevron cleaning bill; Obama breaks silence on Trump; and the blowback against office air
Good afternoon. The Australian government faces having to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to the American oil and gas company Chevron to help it clean up oil wells on Barrow Island, in Western Australia, under a deal made in the 1980s. The WA government also faces a hefty bill – estimated to be $129m – to help repair an offshore nature reserve where about 900 wells have been drilled over the past six decades. Chevron says it has paid more than $1bn in royalties – about $3 a barrel – for oil and gas extracted from beneath the island, which is about 70km off the state's north-west coast. Under state legislation written especially for the project, federal and state taxpayers will have to pay them back nearly half that amount to help cover remediation costs. Asio's 9/11-era questioning powers to become permanent despite warnings from human rights advocates Labor puts childcare centres on notice after abuse scandal with 'one strike' threat to funding Obama breaks silence on Trump's 'outrageous' call to prosecute him Sunday school teacher jailed for sexually abusing nine children protected by church leader, Victorian cult inquiry hears Daily Telegraph headline wrongly claiming 'Labor backs Hamas' breached accuracy rules, Australian Press Council finds AFP news agency calls on Israel to allow evacuation of its freelance contributors 'War is very funny for the first couple of years': how Russia's invasion transformed Ukraine's comedy scene Behind closed doors at a New York City federal building, people are confined after being seized by officers on their way out of immigration court on the 12th floor. This rare look inside Donald Trump's anti-immigration crackdown shows one of several rooms from which accounts have emerged of people being detained in unsuitable conditions with few basic provisions. Ice maintains the rooms are not used for detention. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has requested that the small Pacific nation of Palau accept asylum seekers currently residing in the US, amid a wider push from the US to deport migrants to countries they are not from. 'We're not gelded, we're not emasculated. We're very much virile and out there' – Michael McCormack The Nationals MP said he didn't want to be a boring interview for the media – this was one way of going about it. McCormack was responding to Liberal MP Dan Tehan, who had earlier compared McCormack and Barnaby Joyce to 'two steers in a paddock' after one former leader backed the other's push to repeal net zero by 2050. The party's current leader, David Littleproud, meanwhile, says he's 'relaxed' about whatever Joyce and McCormack are up to. Just days after the cancellation of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Donald Trump has claimed that the future owner of the US TV network CBS will provide him with $20m worth of advertising and programming as part of his settlement with Paramount over a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris. Sign up to Afternoon Update Our Australian afternoon update breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Is 'office air' to blame for your limp workday hair and spotty, flaky skin? Air conditioning, heating and poor ventilation in the office can contribute to drier skin and greasier hair, Natasha May writes – but other factors such as the commute may play a part too. Today's starter word is: FIX. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply. Enjoying the Afternoon Update? Then you'll love our Morning Mail newsletter. Sign up here to start the day with a curated breakdown of the key stories you need to know, and complete your daily news roundup. And follow the latest in US politics by signing up for This Week in Trumpland.
7NEWS
19-07-2025
- 7NEWS
Lancelin locals trigger alarm on coastal erosion as coastline washes away and wild weather predicted
A popular Aussie fishing and tourist town has pleaded for help as an aggressive ocean washes away their tiny coastal home before their eyes. The erosion crisis in Lancelin, 125km north of Perth, has worsened since 7NEWS visited just over two months ago and cast a major cloud over the future of the getaway known for its white sand and relaxed seaside lifestyle. Locals say more than 10m of land has vanished since May and they seriously fear for their homes and businesses. Anxiously watching the shoreline inch towards his pub, Lancelin Sands Hotel owner of three years Glen Trebilcock has pleaded for emergency funding and specialist technical assistance from the state government in a petition supported by 800 signatures. 'Without immediate intervention, the safety of the foreshore and the integrity of essential coastal infrastructure remain at serious risk,' he said. 'We strongly believe that a retreat is not a viable solution.' The local shire has also written to WA Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti for help but says they are yet to hear back. 'We're not asking for millions of dollars at the moment, we're just asking for a little bit of financial assistance,' Gingin Shire President Linda Balcombe told 7NEWS. 'We're a very small shire with only about 6000 ratepayers and we've got a big coastline that we have to protect. 'If we're protecting private businesses and private houses we also need to come up with a model that everybody's putting something into this — shire, landowners and the state, and even federal government. It's an Australia-wide problem.' Balcombe said more than 25 metres of coastline had been eaten up in some of the worst-hit places in the last year. 'Of course (the locals) are nervous. They live here, there's a lot of value in their properties (and) angst if they're going to get inundated,' Balcombe told 7NEWS. 'I don't blame them.' Thousands of tourists are drawn to Lancelin's white sand and picturesque water every year, but Trebilcock said the erosion issue that threatens to swallow up their slice of paradise is having an impact on visitor numbers. 'Six tour companies that used to come through every day, they've all disappeared. They bypass and they just go directly up to Jurien (Bay),' he told 7NEWS. A lookout that has sat by his hotel for decades and is a sought-after stop with international selfie-hunters will be torn down next week due to safety concerns. Former WA opposition leader Shane Love said he had raised a grievance in parliament and followed up again in budget estimates. 'I've said this a number of times in parliament already, the state government need emergency funds and the ability to respond urgently,' he said. The WA Government told 7NEWS it is 'aware of the issues and is actively looking at options to assist'. A weekend cold front set to smash the coast and threatens to eat further into the remaining waterfront. 'The seas will really pick up. We're expecting quite high swells ... well up over five metres behind the system as well,' Bureau of Meteorology WA manager James Ashley said. Some experts fear there is little that can be done at this point. 'In the case of Lancelin, it's built in the wrong place. It's built in an eroding coastline,' UWA coastal oceanography professor Charitha Pattiaratchi told 7NEWS in May. 'It's probably controversial — [but the best thing to do would be] retreat, do nothing.'
ABC News
01-07-2025
- ABC News
Fears for Moreton Bay Figs after shot-hole borer detected on Rottnest Island
The shot hole borer has been detected on Rottnest Island and has already destroyed several trees, raising concerns for the island's long-established Moreton Bay figs. Tourism Minister Reece Whitby confirmed the arrival of the invasive pest on the WA holiday island, off Perth, in response to a question during a budget estimates hearing in state parliament on Tuesday. The tree-killing beetle has spread across the Perth metropolitan area, and there is a nationally-funded effort to stop it breaking out into agricultural areas and other parts of the country. On Friday, the wood-boring beetle was detected in the City of Wanneroo, in Perth's north, for the first time, after previously mainly being found in the southern and central metropolitan areas. The WA government recently conceded it had lost the multi-million dollar fight to eradicate the shot-hole borer, instead shifting its focus to managing it. Most of the trees on Rottnest Island are native, which the beetle does not target. However, Mr Whitby told budget estimates less than 10 non-native, or exotic, trees had been killed or infested by shot-hole borers. There is particular concern for the island's long-established Moreton Bay fig trees. "We're very mindful of ensuring that they are protected," he said. "There's a lot of work about that given that they are not natives and I guess they are more susceptible." Moreton Bay fig trees have already been removed from Perth's Kings Park and Hyde Park as part of efforts to eradicate the borer. According to the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, there have been no confirmed detections of polyphagous shot-hole borer outside of the Perth metropolitan area. But the national biosecurity strategy to deal with the pest is currently in transition from eradication to management, in recognition that it is not possible to wipe them out. It is suspected the destructive beetle came to Rottnest Island in a batch of mulch from the mainland. All mulch is now being treated before being sent across to the island. "It's being monitored very closely, and we haven't seen any further issues, " Mr Whitby said. Trees native to Rottnest Island were already being propagated in a nursery to try and re-establish the woodland that once covered much of the island. Mr Whitby said that would continue and will be part of the re-planting of trees impacted by shot-hole borers. Mr Whity said the loss of a small number of trees to the shot hole borer would highlight the importance of the program, which was aimed at increasing the tree canopy on the island.
West Australian
23-06-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Venus launches drilling program in search of Murchison copper
Venus Metals has launched into diamond drilling at the company's Pincher copper-zinc target, which is part of its Youanmi base metals project in Western Australia's Murchison region. The company revealed last month its subsidiary Redscope Enterprises has received the nod to obtain a $52,500 WA Government Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS) co-funding grant towards drilling costs to test its Pincher target. The $52,500 grant, which was the maximum Venus applied for, will cover 50 per cent of the diamond drilling costs and up to $5000 in drill rig mobilisation costs. The EIS initiative was launched in 2009 to encourage exploration in WA and trigger private sector resource exploration for new mineral and energy discoveries. The company has engaged well-known firm Terra Drilling to undertake the diamond drilling program. Venus has already drilled a reverse circulation hole to a depth of 150 metres as a pre-collar. It will hammer further into the hole using an industrial diamond-bearing drill bit to test the prospective ground for copper and zinc. The follow-up diamond tail will test a 5000-siemens conductor at 400m depth. Venus has been able to significantly reduce its drilling costs because the pre-collar reverse circulation hole was drilled to an initial 150m depth. Venus conducted ground gravity surveys across the prospective northern extension of its Pincher North Dome base metal find, which is considered a volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) system. The company encountered several gravity anomalies in the system, which contains copper, zinc and lead mineralisation. Subsequent moving loop electromagnetic survey lines were flown across the gravity anomalies using a Jessy Deeps SQUID sensor at low base frequency to achieve a maximum investigative depth. The SQUID sensor is an ultra-sensitive receiver for ground transient electromagnetic measurements with supposed unrivalled sensitivity. The whiz-bang technology is said to be capable of recording data up to 10 times longer or three times deeper than conventional coil receivers. Management says a broad late-time response was evident on one line and modelled at 400m depth as a flat-lying, high-conductance plate at 5000 siemens, a unit of conductive measurement to determine how well a material allows electricity to flow through it. Venus believes the modelled plate is significant and is itching for the opportunity to test the high-priority target in its upcoming co-funded drill program. The company will also use the opportunity to obtain core samples for metallurgical testwork planned on zinc mineralisation identified within two holes and will complete downhole electromagnetic surveying. It has already scored several solid gold hits at Pincher, including hits at the Linda Gossan prospect, in which the company has a 50 per cent interest through a joint venture on the regional gold rights. It intersected 9m at 15.6 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from surface at Linda Gossan, including a 3m hit of 35.2g/t from 1m. When the Pincher drilling campaign is finished, the Terra rig will motor to the company's Bellchambers gold deposit to collect core samples for metallurgical recovery testwork. Venus recently revealed a high-tech collaboration with the nation's leading science research organisation, the CSIRO, to ramp up the hunt for more gold in WA's richly endowed Sandstone region. The company inked a deal through the CSIRO's Kick-Start program, securing a $47,426 voucher to fund a six-month research project to home in on gold and copper alteration zones at Bellchambers, within its Sandstone gold deposit. Venus plans to use a combination of hyperspectral satellite imagery, downhole scanning and handheld spectrometers to rigorously map the deposit's mineral system with highly detailed 3D accuracy. Sitting 23 kilometres southwest of the historic Sandstone gold-rush township and 70km from Rox Resources' Youanmi gold mine, Bellchambers has a modest but growing gold resource of 722,000 tonnes grading 1.31g/t gold for 30,500 ounces. Notably, Venus holds an enviable 54.625 million shares in Rox, valued at about $15 million based on Rox's share price today. The company's latest 34-hole reverse circulation drilling campaign, totalling 1749m, could add more oomph to the mineralisation at Bellchambers. Standout hits include a solid 19m grading 3.74g/t gold from just 11m downhole – with a stellar 1m at 38.3g/t – along with a 29m section going 1.55g/t from 11m and 30m running at 1.72g/t from 45m. Over at Rangeview, the drill bit unearthed 13m at 1.60g/t gold from 19m and 18m going at 1.24g/t from 47m, beefed up by a 1m hit grading 11.5g/t gold. The reverse circulation chips and core samples will feed directly into the CSIRO's project to refine its advanced minerals mapping. The collaboration comprises next-generation hyperspectral satellite sensors that can scan the Earth's surface in unprecedented detail, creating mineral maps that dovetail with subsurface data from Venus' drilling program. By integrating HyLogger-3TM downhole imagery and surface spectrometry, the project aims to generate a holistic view of the mineralising system, potentially kicking up new gold-copper zones across the 125-square-kilometre tenement. Venus is on the hunt for two of the most sought-after metals on today's market, with both its targeted gold and copper looking closer to its reach with each passing month. Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact:
